Belonging

At Opening Assembly each year, I tell all our students — new and returning — the same three things: “You can do the work. You will make lifelong friends. Absolutely, you belong here.” These are the three things I wanted to know and would have appreciated hearing as a new lower so many years ago. Of the three, a sense of belonging is arguably the most important, because that is the foundation for thriving inside and outside the classroom and making lifelong friends.

Every student at Exeter should have a strong sense of belonging. The responsibility to make this a reality is embraced by all the adults in our community. In recent years, we have worked hard to strengthen how we welcome, support and celebrate our students across all backgrounds, experiences and identities. Examples are too numerous to list here, but they include new fall orientation programs, expanded recognition of different faith traditions and ethnic holidays in our school calendar, more culturally diverse food offerings, stronger affiliation of day students with dormitories, and improved training of student leaders in how to support new and younger students.

Our need-blind admissions policies also support a strong sense of belonging for our students. These policies and our commitment to meeting the full demonstrated need of all families are grounded in our mission and commitment to youth from every quarter, and are essential to preserving our ability to attract middle-income families as well as families with the greatest need. We have 35 more students on financial aid this year than last and anticipate that the financial aid census will continue to grow in the years ahead. The diversity of our student body is a defining strength of our school that propels our students’ learning and growth.

Our commitment to attracting and supporting diverse faculty and staff is also essential to fostering a strong sense of belonging for our students. This commitment extends beyond race and includes all forms of diversity represented in our student body. We are hiring excellent people across a wide range of backgrounds and experiences who want to teach and work in a boarding school environment and are committed to supporting the learning, growth and holistic development of every student.

Our students also contribute to strengthening their own sense of belonging by how they support and encourage each other. Recently I attended the presentation of a senior project by a student who had designed and built a laptop computer that matched the functionalities of the most expensive laptops on the market. His presentation was outstanding (and way over my head), yet even more impressive was the standing room only crowd of at least 50 students who had come to hear and cheer his presentation in Phelps Science Center.

This is typical of how students support one another across all arenas and activities. We see this when students hug each other in the lobby of the Goel Center for Theater and Dance after a performance, when they rush the court after a volleyball or basketball victory, when they loudly cheer each other’s accomplishments at Prize Day assembly and graduation, and in countless other ways. This support translates directly to a sense of belonging.

I hope you enjoy reading in this issue about our two graduates who were recently named Rhodes scholars. This is on a par with our two recent grand prize winners in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, who were featured in previous issues of the Bulletin. These are remarkable individual achievements. Yet they are also the product of the very special learning environment at Exeter, and they reflect how our students find joy in their collaborative learning and support each other in the pursuit of their passions. In that sense, these are group achievements that reflect the importance of belonging for all our students.

A few days after Opening Assembly one year, a senior approached me at Senior Sunrise in the stadium — a tradition introduced during COVID — and told me, “Mr. Rawson, every year at Opening Assembly when you tell me that I belong here, it means a lot to me.” That was the most important meeting I had that day, and there is no more important work that we do every day here at Exeter.

This letter was first published in the winter 2025 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.