Phillips Exeter Academy

For the record: Beatlemania sweeps through Exeter

Sarah Varney ’91: Reporter at large

The Art of Engineering

Exonians in Review: Summer 2025

A 50th Reunion Reflection

Vital work

As you read this issue of the Bulletin, I hope you find it inspiring to see the latest evidence of both the joy and sense of purpose that comes with being a member of the Exeter community.

It is a great pleasure to be part of a community where high academic achievement is valued, where students accomplish as much outside the classroom as in, where exploration and self-discovery are what we do for fun, and where the spirit of non sibi runs deep.

These pages offer some wonderful examples: a robotics club formed by students who share a common purpose to give back to others; budding social entrepreneurs who craft business solutions to real-world problems; and seniors who design their own independent study electives to explore feminism through the arts.

I am amazed by the extraordinary work being done by our students, and by the passion they bring to these endeavors. To provide these young people with the opportunity to thrive in a community where everyone feels a true sense of belonging- that is the Exeter we strive for every day.

At a recent assembly, I told students, “We don’t wait until later to be the people we want to be. You have to be the people you want to be today, and that starts not with how you relate to your closest friends – it’s how you relate to everybody.” I urged them to respect the dignity and equal worth of every person within our community, adult and student.

Our students do this work in the Harkness classrooms, in their dorms, or on the stage or playing fields. In January, during Exeter’s annual MLK Day, three PEA alumnae led workshops designed to break down differences and deconstruct cultural narratives. That same month, MacArthur Fellow and Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson delivered an impassioned Henry Bragdon Fellow assembly talk, urging students to engage with issues of social justice, saying: “Your hope is your superpower.” At the conclusion of Mr. Stevenson’s remarks, I offered students a copy of his memoir, Just Mercy. The response was overwhelming. We ordered an additional 600 copies to meet the demand.

It is wonderful and also serious business to renew our commitment each year to the mission of our school, and to live up to our responsibilities in a rapidly changing world. We must prepare our students for what John and Elizabeth Phillips in the Deed of Gift called “the great end and real business of living,” and reconsider each year what it means to help our students grow in knowledge and goodness and thereby lay the surest foundation for usefulness to humankind. John and Elizabeth Phillips expressed a certain urgency about the school’s mission in the Deed of Gift. The urgency of our mission is as great today as ever.

This column was originally published in the Spring 2019 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.

A full and equitable experience

At Exeter, we want every student and adult to have an equal sense of belonging and equal opportunity to thrive. How do we ensure an equitable Exeter experience for every member of our community, no matter their background or identity? This is a question of utmost importance as we seek to uphold the school’s founding mission to instill goodness and knowledge and thereby “lay the surest foundation of usefulness to [hu]mankind.”

The work to create and nurture an intentionally diverse school dates back to John and Elizabeth Phillips’ charge that Exeter admit and instruct “youth from every quarter.” Today, we interpret that in the broadest possible sense. And we do so by building upon the hard work of generations of students, faculty and staff who have sought to make Exeter the intellectual community of depth and substance that it is.

We have more work to do, and it is imperative that we continue to act. Last January, the Trustees adopted a vision statement recognizing that diversity, equity and inclusion are critical to sustaining and strengthening our tradition of excellence in all aspects of life at Exeter. The vision state­ment makes clear that our obligation goes beyond merely assembling a diverse population: “Our commitment is to teach the skills, model the behaviors, provide the resources and cultivate the environment of inclusion” that will unlock the richness of that diversity. I encourage you to read the full statement at exeter.edu/DEivision. It serves as a guiding document in our work to promote a reflexive climate of empathy, understanding and respect. As the Trustees state, “Excellence today requires nothing less.”

Stephanie Bramlett, our director of equity and inclusion, has had a busy first few months at Exeter working with the commu­nity to build a framework around the Trustees’ vision. She and I were among 22 PEA adults and six students who attended the National Association oflndependent Schools’ People of Color Conference and Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Nashville last November. It was our largest adult contingent and first student group from PEA to attend these important confer­ences. On campus, Stephanie is collaborating with department heads and students in furthering existing initiatives and defin­ing new ones. Our Dean of Faculty Ellen Wolff and Director of Human Resources Rachel Henry also continue their efforts to attract and retain an increasingly diverse employee base; and our Institutional Advancement Office led by Morgan Dudley is working alongside alumni and parents to ensure our greater Exeter community is as welcoming, inclusive and vibrant as the one on campus.

Our faculty also continue their scholarship and curricular work in this area with the spirit of innovation and collabora­tion that defines our school. Sarni Atif, math instructor and interim dean of multicultural affairs, has developed math problems that address societal issues and provide students and teachers with real-world scenarios and a fact-based framework to explore important topics. During this winter term, the English Department, chaired by Nat Hawkins, is piloting a course for lowers designed to aid students in devel­oping the appropriate skills and understanding to engage in respectful, productive conversations about race and identity. You can read more about these examples in this issue’s cover feature (pg. 28).

These efforts extend Exeter’s mission to help students excel academically and develop an ethos of non sibi that will influence their life’s work. As you read this Bulletin, I hope you will be excited by what you see and feel drawn back to Exeter. We would be delighted to have you visit campus, spend time with our students and faculty, appreciate the Exeter of today, and help us imagine the Exeter of tomorrow.

This column was originially published in the Winter 2019 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.

Welcome to George H. Guptill ’57 House

Leaving the table,

Leaving the table,

exploring the world

Academy Building makeover is underway