Good morning, Exeter.
I welcome you again to this Opening Assembly, which marks the beginning of the 242nd year in the history of our school.
It is indeed wonderful to see everyone gathered together, and to feel the energy and excitement in the room. For some, this represents a return to the school you already know well and love, and to friendships that already have been formed and mean the world to you. For others, it represents a new beginning. I am happy and excited to see all of you here this morning.
I would like to thank Dean Page for welcoming and introducing our new faculty to our school community. We are so excited that our new faculty are here and are now a part of the Exeter community.
Thank you, Dean Weatherspoon, for welcoming and recognizing our emeriti faculty. We are deeply grateful for our emeriti faculty’s presence this morning and for their enduring commitment to our school.
I would like to extend a special, warm welcome to all our new students. You are 341 in number, and come from 34 states and 20 countries. You bring a wonderful diversity of backgrounds, experiences, talents and interests. Every one of you was admitted without regard to your family’s ability to pay tuition or other costs of attending Exeter.
Last November we announced a “need-blind” admissions policy, meaning that Exeter’s admissions decisions are made without regard to any family’s ability to pay, and the Academy is committed to meeting the full demonstrated financial need of every student. The generosity of alumni, parents and friends of the Academy, recently and over many generations, has made these commitments possible, and we are indeed very grateful.
In addition to welcoming our new students, I would like to assure you that I have every confidence in your success at Exeter. I say that from the perspective of having once occupied your seat, as a new Lower, many years ago. I came from a modest background and was a financial aid recipient. When I attended opening assembly for the first time, I certainly was happy to be here, and of course I felt the excitement of the day, but I also was a little nervous, and perhaps even a bit overwhelmed or intimidated by everything and everyone around me. That was many years ago. With our robust orientation programs today, hopefully you have already left those uncertain feelings behind, but just in case, let me tell you what I tell all our new students every year.
You can do the work.
You will make lifelong friends.
Absolutely, you belong here.
It has been my custom during my tenure as principal to unveil at Opening Assembly each year a new school T-shirt, and I will do that now. This is an additional way to welcome our new students, and to reinforce for all students, new and returning, a sense of pride and belonging. You are all Exonians. You will be able to collect your T-shirts outside as you leave the gym, and keep an eye out for Exeter bars outside McConnnell Hall as you head to class.
Seniors, members of the Class of 2023, I want to add that it is wonderful to see you in the front section! This will be an important and memorable year for you. We have 31 new seniors this year. Whether this is your fourth year at Exeter or first, or in between, your leadership across all aspects of school life will be important to the success of our school this year.
Uppers, members of the Class of 2024, you have passed the halfway point. It will be exciting to see you continue to learn and grow this year, and to watch as you emerge into leadership positions in your own right. Please welcome 25 new students to your class.
Lowers, Class of 2025, we have 62 new Lowers this year. This is a year for you to explore new passions and develop new strengths, perhaps strengths that prior to coming to Exeter you never imagined you could have.
And finally, preps, Class of 2026, 222 strong and all new to Exeter. It might be hard for you to imagine, but in time you will be seniors, and a new class of preps will be looking up to you. For now, I encourage you to reach out to older students for advice; they can tell you what they wish they had known when they arrived as new students.
It also is our custom at Exeter for the principal at Opening Assembly to talk about the Academy’s Deed of Gift and reflect on the mission of our school. The Deed of Gift was signed by co-founders John and Elizabeth Phillips in 1781, five years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and seven years before the State of New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratifify the U.S. Constitution. Our Deed of Gift is a remarkable document.
It states that Exeter “shall ever be equally open to youth of requisite qualifications from every quarter."
And it states, "Above all, it is expected that the attention of instructors to the disposition of the minds and morals of the youth under their charge will exceed every other care; well considering that though goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous, and that both united form the noblest character, and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to humankind."
From these passages, we derive our school mission. Our mission is to unite goodness and knowledge and inspire youth from every quarter to lead purposeful lives.