The Exeter Bulletin, Spring 2011

SPRING 2011

20Years of MLK Day at Exeter

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The Exeter Annual Giving FundTThank you.

5:1 student-teacher ratio

...and other extraordinary statistics made possibleby gifts to the Exeter Annual Giving Fund

Number ofcourses offeredin 19 subject areas

Student organizations and clubs

Average number of students around theHarkness table

Percentage offaculty who holdadvanced degrees

U.S. statesrepresented by the student body12

450

83

90

47

37Nations represented bythe student body

Help keep Exeter extraordinary. Invest today.

Donors to the Annual Fund are vital to Exeter’s ability to provide an unmatched student experience—as reflected in statistics like these:

n Mail: use the enclosed envelopen Online: www.exeter.edu/give n Phone: 603-777-3473

100% Alumni/ae participation goal for the 2010-11 Annual Fund.Gifts of all sizes count. Be a part of it!

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1SPRING 2011 The Exeter Bulletin

Around theTable

FeaturesPrincipalThomasE.Hassan’56,’66,’70,’06(Hon.);P’11

Director of CommunicationsJulie Quinn

EditorKaren Ingraham

Staff WritersMike Catano,Alice Gray, NicolePellaton, FamebridgeWitherspoon

Class Notes EditorJanice M.Reiter

Editorial AssistantSusan Goraczkowski

Creative Director/DesignDavid Nelson,Nelson Design

Contributing EditorEdouard L.Desrochers ’45, ’62 (Hon.)

CommunicationsAdvisory CommitteeDaniel G. Brown ’82, Robert C.Burtman ’74, Dorinda Elliott ’76,Alison Freeland ’72,Keith Johnson ’52,Yvonne M. Lopez ’93

TRUSTEESPresidentG.Thompson Hutton ’73

Vice PresidentEunice Johnson Panetta ’84

David O. Beim ’58, Flobelle BurdenDavis ’87,Marc C. de La Bruyère ’77,Walter C.Donovan ’81, JonathanW.Galassi ’67,Thomas E.Hassan ’56, ’66,’70, ’06 (Hon.); P’11,Robert A.Ho ’73,David R.Horn ’85,Alan R. Jones ’72,Sally Jutabha Michaels ’82,William K.Rawson ’71,Dr.Nina D.Russell ’82,Robert S. Silberman ’76, J.DouglasSmith ’83,RemyWhiteTrafelet ’88,Morrison DeSotoWebb ’65

The Exeter Bulletin (ISSN No. 0195-0207) is published four times each year:fall, winter, spring, and summer, by PhillipsExeter Academy, 20 Main Street, ExeterNH 03833-2460, 603-772-4311.Periodicals postage paid at Exeter, NH,and at additional mailing offices. Printedin the USA byThe Lane Press.The Exeter Bulletin is printed on recycledpaper and sent free of charge to alumni/ae,parents, grandparents, friends, andeducational institutions by Phillips ExeterAcademy, Exeter,NH.Communicationsmay be addressed to the editor; [email protected].

Copyright 2011 by theTrustees ofPhillips Exeter Academy.ISSN-0195-0207

Postmasters: Send address changes to:Phillips ExeterAcademy,Records Office,20 Main Street,Exeter, NH 03833-2460.

Contents

26

20 | PEA’S MLK DAYTURNS 20How Exeter celebrates one man’s dream

By English Instructors Christine Robinson and Mercy Carbonell

26 | THE EVOLUTION OF SPACE

A pictorial timeline of campus transformations

Compiled by Karen Ingraham andTomWharton

2 Around theTable:Faculty achievements, conga on ice, visiting scholar,SweeneyTodd, and more.

12 TableTalk with John Hutchins, financial aid director

14 Exoniana

16 Exonians in Review: From the Box Marked Some AreMissing by CharlesW. Pratt ’52. Reviewed by DavidWeber

32 Sports: Sled Hockey Scores at PEA by Mike Catano.Plus, winter sports roundup.

36 Connections: News and Notes from the Alumni/aeCommunity

39 Profiles: Stewart A. Lyons ’69, James Johnson-Piett ’97and Alex Manfull ’09

102 In Memoriam: JamesWells Griswold ’31 (Hon.)

104 Finis Origine Pendet:ForThoseWho Never Made Itby RyanWeggler ’01

20

V O L U M E C V I , N O. 3 S P R I N G 2 0 1 1

Departments

THE EXETER BULLETIN IS PRINTED ON PAPER WITH 10%POST-CONSUMER CONTENT, USING SOY-BASED INKS.

12

Visit Exeter onthe web at www.exeter.edu / Emailus at [email protected]

COVER:ALEXANDRA FUIKS '10 AND STEPHANIEWU '11 PERFORM DURING MLK DAY 2009.DANCE PHOTO BY XITAI CHEN, MLK PHOTO COURTESY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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A Facility for Discovery

The Phelps Science Center opened in 2001 with 20 classroom-labs,each equipped with a Harkness table—a first for the Science De-partment. The 72,000-square-foot building is divided into wings:biology, chemistry, physics and multiscience.

—Photo by Brian Crowley

The Exeter Bulletin SPRING 20112


SPRING 2011 The Exeter Bulletin

TheView from Here

3


4 The Exeter Bulletin SPRING 2011

From time to time, I haveoccasion to visit thefourth floor of the Class

of 1945 Library. It is there, inrooms named in honor ofdonors Thomas S. Lamont ’16;P’42, P’44 and Corliss Lamont’20; P’53, that the library’s Spe-cial Collections are kept. Exeter’scache of rare books and originalmanuscripts offers materials ofinterest to literary scholars, his-torians, book collectors, our fac-ulty, and alumni/ae working in avariety of fields. Its treasuresinclude works from the 16th to21st centur ies, including amedieval illuminated manuscriptand explorer Roald Amundsen’s1905 journal detailing his dis-covery of the Northwest Passage.

During a recent visit to the library’s top floor, another set ofbooks caught my attention.A number of shelves exhibit the worksof current and former Exeter faculty members. These volumes,recordings and CDs—some of which date back to the earliestyears of the school—are a testament not only to the Exeterinstructors’ depth of knowledge but also to the intensity withwhich they have approached their disciplines.

For instance, old volumes on plane and spherical trigonome-try, written by Mathematics Instructor Emeritus George AlbertWentworth in the 1890s, sit on some of these shelves.They werethe principal textbooks used nationally in high schools for manyyears, as were two later sets of mathematics texts by three emeri-ti instructors in mathematics: one set by Jackson B. Adkins ’22,’62 (Hon.) and Arthur W.Weeks, and the other by Richard G.Brown ’66, ’79 (Hon.); P’82, P’85, P’93.

History Instructor Emeritus HenryW. Bragdon’s History of aFree People, published in 1954, is his most famous work and a sta-ple in high schools and colleges. The library has, however, 28other publications by the renowned historian. The Women ofPlums: Poems in theVoices of SlaveWomen—a poetry collection byEnglish Instructor Emerita Dolores T. Kendrick—is there, as is

Civil Disobedience in America:A Documentary Histo-ry, edited by English Instructor Emeritus David R.Weber ’71, ’74 (Hon.); P’92. In fact, every subjecttaught at Exeter is represented on these shelves.

I would like to be able to provide more of ourcurrent faculty members with opportunities tobroaden and deepen their expertise in their subjectmatters, and to share that knowledge with a wideraudience.This could be done through the writingof books and articles, but it might also be accom-plished by giving instructors the chance to sharetheir academic experiences and Harkness teachingskills in venues outside of the Academy.

In the past,PEA has supported a number of fac-ulty members who engaged in teacher exchanges.Modern Languages Instructor Joe Reiter P’91,P’96, P’98; Modern Languages Instructor Emeri-tus Davis Hammond P’89, P’90; MathematicsInstructor Emeritus Frank T. Gutmann ’52; ’65(Hon.); P’85, P’87; Science Instructor EmeritusAndy Polychronis ’78 (Hon.); and, more recently,

Physical Education Instructor Hilary H. Coder P’04, P’08 leftExeter for yearlong teaching assignments at other schools. Partic-ipating schools have includedThe King’s School (Australia),Har-row School and Eton College (England), and others.

We are in the early stages of establishing a formal teacherexchange program between theAcademy and national and inter-national partner schools.Our vision is that partner schools wouldnot be predetermined but would instead depend upon the sub-ject area of expertise and teachers’ goals. I believe this programwill offer unique professional development opportunities forAcademy instructors, their exchange partners, and the depart-ments hosting exchange teachers on their campuses.

This project dovetails nicely with the work being done bymembers of the Exeter in the World Committee, a group ofteachers led by Dean of Faculty-elect Ron Kim, whom I havecharged with finding ways to broaden the Academy’s reachbeyond our campus. I hope that these efforts, coupled with addi-tional opportunities for travel, study and research,will continue tostimulate our faculty.And, in turn, that our faculty will be furthermotivated to keep the library shelves stocked with inspiringworks for future Exonians.

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Continuing toShareFacultyKnowledgeBy Principal Thomas E. Hassan ’56, ’66, ’70, ’06 (Hon.); P’11

Around theTableWhat’s new and notable at the Academy

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SPRING 2011 The Exeter Bulletin 5

In a February assembly,Andrew Card characterizedhis previous job as consisting

of three primary duties:“the careand feeding of the president, pol-icy formulation, and marketingand selling.” The former WhiteHouse chief of staff for PresidentGeorgeW. Bush deemed the firstduty as the most demanding butoften the most important.“If you don’t do the care and

feeding part of the job well,”Cardtold the student body, “the presi-dent probably loses confidence ineverything the government issupposed to do. . . . So I spent adisproportionate amount of timepaying attention to the president’severy move, every minute of theday, 24 hours a day. . . .”Card, whose visit to PEA was

sponsored by the class of 1953,served under Bush from 2001–06.He has the distinction of beingthe longest-serving chief of staff (the average tenure is 23 months) and for being the oneto whisper to Bush that “America is under attack” on September 11, 2001. Card alsoserved as secretary of transportation under President George H.W. Bush, deputy assis-tant to President Ronald Reagan regarding intergovernmental affairs, and U.S. repre-sentative for Massachusetts from 1975–83.During the assembly,Card described his other duties as providing the president with

peripheral vision during policy formulation and, in terms of public relations, determin-ing “how you take the president’s decision and communicate it to the right people atthe right time, so that [it’s] implemented to the president’s expectation.”At the conclusion, a student asked Card for advice on how young people can best

prepare themselves for public service roles. His response: “Be idealistic, have dreams,have aspirations, and then learn what the real world is like. Accept the real world forwhat it is and try to change it rather than presume the world is different than it is andtry to manage it.”While on campus,Card also participated in classroom Harkness discussions and gave

an evening lecture entitled “AView into the Oval Office and Managing Crisis,” whichwas open to the public.

—Karen Ingraham

Former Bush Chief of Staff at PEAANDREW CARD TALKS ABOUT LIFE IN THE WHITE HOUSE

James Gregory ’11

(left) sits next to

Andrew Card, for-

merWhite House

chief of staff, who

joined some classes

while visiting PEA.



Around theTable

PEA faculty members continue to garner recognition and awards outside the Academy for the expertise andartistry they exhibit in their respective fields.The following is a roundup of notable faculty news from the falland winter terms.

Science Instructor John A. Blackwell has been selected to serve as a teacher mentor in the2011 NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program. Blackwell is working with one ofthree teams that are made up of approximately 60 eighth-grade, high school or community

college science educators and students, as well as community outreach educators from around thecountry. Each team will work on an astronomical research project by analyzing large, previouslyunmined data sets.Team members will present their findings at the 2012 American AstronomicalSociety winter conference in Austin,TX.English Instructor Todd Hearon was named the 2010 recipient of the Rumi Prize for Poetry,

awarded by the literary magazine Arts & Letters Journal of Contemporary Culture. Hearon’s winningpoems, “No Other Gods,” “Circe’s Sister,” and “After Words,” were published and he received a$1,000 prize.The poems are part of Hearon’s latest manuscript,No Other Gods.English Instructor MatthewW.Miller was selected as a finalist in the 2010 Robert Frost Foun-

dation poetry contest.Miller’s poem“Twiggin’ ”was among seven finalists whose poems were pub-lished on the foundation’s website.Music Department Chair Rohan G. Smith and Adjunct Music Instructor Eva C. Gruesser

donated their time and talents to perform earlier this year at Carnegie Hall in the “Beethoven forthe IndusValley” benefit concert. Using Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, the concert wasdesigned to build awareness within the global community about the ongoing humanitarian needsof the 20 million Pakistanis devastated by the 2010 floods.Among the 90 musicians participating,Smith performed second violin and Gruesser was seated in first violin.Last fall, Adjunct Music Instructor Jodi Hagen won a regular position to perform with the

Boston Lyric Opera.The freelance violinist had worked with the BLO for several years as a substi-tute player and competed anonymously in the orchestra’s final round of trials.Additionally, Hagenwas one of three violinists chosen by the BLO for an upcoming performance of Handel’s Agrippina.She also recorded a solo violin performance for the “Dinosaur Wars” segment on the PBS series“American Experience,” which aired in January.

FacultyWire

Conga on Ice

On February 27, history was made in Love Gymnasium.For 15 minutes, 266 people joined together to break theGuinnessWorld Record for the longest conga line on ice.Organized by students, the event brought together stu-dents, faculty, staff, their families and friends, and even ayouth hockey team practicing on the adjacent rink.Thenumber to beat was 252,and—as of press time—studentorganizers were awaiting official confirmation fromGuinnessWorld Records that the record has been bro-ken.The attempt is believed to be the first by a PEA stu-dent body to capture a Guinness World Record. If youknow of another, please email [email protected].

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Around theTable

TheTrustees of the Academy met on campusWednesday,January 26, through Saturday, January 29.OnWednesdayevening, the group, led by History Instructor Emeritus

Jack Herney, engaged in a lively Harkness discussion about twobooks they had read,Education Nation and Higher Education?:HowColleges AreWasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids andWhatWeCan Do About It.

TheTrustees began their official meetingsThursday morningwith a report from PrincipalTom Hassan,who updated them onthe various administrative searches under way, next year’s schoolcalendar and progress to date on controlled hiring.

Trustees also heard from members of the Alumni/ae Affairsand Development (AA&D) Office and were pleased to learn thatAcademy fundraising has improved in the area of annual giving.It was noted that in this still shaky economic climate, schools—including Exeter—are having less success in securing major gifts.The Academy received several significant bequests, however,from alumni/ae and friends to support scholarships.

The nominees for this year’s Founder’s Day Award and JohnPhillips Award were discussed and approved. In May, RickMahoney ’61, a longtime faculty colleague who retired in 2009,will receive the Founder’s Day Award for his lifetime of serviceto the school. Maria Cabildo ’85 will be on campus in Octoberto receive the John Phillips Award—which honors an Exetergraduate for contributing to the welfare of community, countryand humanity—in recognition of her service work in her nativeEast Los Angeles. (Go to www.exeter.edu/alumni to read moreabout these award recipients.)

Following the AA&D session, Trustees attended EnglishInstructor Todd Hearon’s meditation and greatly enjoyed listen-ing to his thoughtful and eloquent words. Trustees had severalopportunities to connect with students and teachers, includingdinner with academic department heads and dorm visits onThursday and meeting with a number of new preps and lowersover breakfast on Friday before attending some classes. TheTrustees believe making connections within our community isimportant and are committed to continuing such outreach.

AfterThursday’s meditation, theTrustees reconvened to listento various updates from Director of Facilities ManagementRoger Wakeman. Trustees approved the continued funding forthe steam distribution system renewal project, which is comingin under original budget projections.Wakeman reported that theprimary work locations during the spring and summer monthswill be on the west side of the gym, in the Elliot Street area, andin the area ofWheelwright and Phillips halls.

Wakeman also discussed the Phillips Hall renovation workthat will begin in the spring, and he noted that the project wouldbe completed over the next two years,with the majority of work

occurring in the summer periods. Phillips Hall will be availablefor Summer School use this year, but not in 2012.

Two major planning efforts were also discussed during this ses-sion. A program committee will begin working with a consultantto develop a program statement that will serve as the foundationfor a new performing arts center.This spring, another programcommittee will focus on the planning and prioritization for majordormitory renewal projects. Significant renovations to dorms arescheduled to begin in the summer of 2012.

The remainder of Thursday was devoted to a discussionregarding the Academy’s finances.As is customary at the wintermeeting, the Trustees decided on tuition for the following aca-demic year.As you may recall, last fallTrustees agreed they wouldincrease tuition to better align our rate with peer institutions.Atthe January meeting, the group voted to increase boardingtuition for 2011-12 to $41,800 and day tuition to $32,470. Evenwith this increase, it is anticipated that our tuition will remainlower than that of our peer boarding schools.

Much of Friday’s discussions focused on reports delivered byvarious administrators, including Director of MulticulturalAffairsVeda Robinson, Dean of Students Dan Morrissey, Direc-tor of Admissions Michael Gary,Director of College CounselingBetsy Dolan, Associate Dean of Faculty Lawrence Smith andDean of Faculty Kathleen Curwen.Trustees learned of Exeter’sprogress in establishing a teacher exchange program and wereupdated regarding the work of the Exeter in the World Com-mittee, a group working to provide faculty with global researchand teaching opportunities.

Friday evening was devoted to a surprise dinner for AA&DDirector Jim Theisen, who retired in early March.A number offormer and current trustees and Principal Emerita KendraStearns O’Donnell and Principal Emeritus Ty Tingley roastedand toasted Jim for his 35 years of extraordinary service to theAcademy. In honor of Jim, and in recognition of his devotion toand respect for the Exeter staff, a small number of trustees estab-lished the James M.Theisen Staff Recognition Fund (see storyabout this fund on page 44).

Saturday morning, the Trustees and the Principal’s Staff dis-cussed the future needs and priorities of the Academy and con-sidered the launch of a planning process to define and tackle thoseneeds. It was agreed to continue Saturday’s productive Harknessconversations over the next months and embark on the design ofan inclusive process to gather feedback from faculty and staff.

The Trustees appreciated the warm welcome they receivedduring their time on campus and look forward to their gatheringat PEA in May. —Julie Quinn

Trustee Roundup

SPRING 2011 The Exeter Bulletin 7


8

Around theTable

VisitingArtistsTeach MasterclassesGILBERT CONCERT SERIES HOSTS BARITONE AND QUARTET

This winter, a student vocalist picked up a violin for thefirst time and learned to play a solitary note.Another stu-dent came to understand how acting can lend depth and

character to a performance.These experiences took place duringtwo separate masterclass sessions, which are part of the GilbertConcert Series—a program that hosts musical artists of nationaland international acclaim on campus.Evan Strouss ’11, a member of the Concert Choir, was invit-

ed to join the Apple Hill String Quartet as guest violinist duringa two-hour masterclass in January attended by more than 80

music students. “I hadnever so much astouched a violin before,and so it was at firstcompletely overwhelm-ing,” he explains. “Myrole was to play one note throughout theentire piece, and so they tuned the violin toplay just one note. Even so, the intonations ofthe instrument occasionally caused me to goflat or sharp. The amazing thing was that I had the other fourhelping me.When I would go flat, I could tune into them, andfix it myself. It was an amazing musical experience, just playingthat one note, and is an experience that any musician can takeand put into action.”Apple Hill String Quartet is no ordinary quartet. In addition

to their musical skill—performing with verve a broad repertoire,from classics to contemporary—they also epitomize the spirit ofnon sibi with their program Playing for Peace, which promotespeace through music in strife-torn areas of the globe, includingIsrael, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, and even inner-city neighbor-hoods within the U.S.

“I loveTwitter, Facebook and all that,” said Leonard Matczyn-ski, Apple Hill’s executive and artistic director,who worked withPEA’s student quartet during the masterclass.“But, it’s crucial tohave personal one-on-one communication.” For Apple Hill, theplaying of music is more than a metaphor for communication—it’s the very vehicle.“It’s a great ‘real world’ experience,” says Strouss, who is also a

member of the Exeter Social Service Organization board, of theopportunity to work directly with Apple Hill. “What the AppleHill Quartet does by combining music and civil service is some-

thing [that] I really admire and would love to emu-late.”Like Strouss,Theodore Motzkin ’11 had a musical

breakthrough in February when he and more than 40other students attended a masterclass led by baritoneAndrew Garland.Motzkin performed “Heidenröslein”by Franz Schubert during the class,and Garland’s“casu-al and congenial” demeanor quickly settled his nerves.“Mr. Garland’s advice led me to a deeper under-

standing of what it means to be a singer,” Motzkinsays. “I was very focused on technique and propersound production. In instructing me, Mr. Garlandwas more interested in communication: how wellthe performer communicates with the audience.”Garland,who has been hailed by critics for his

“grace, fervor and intelligence,” is a nationaloperatic and stage performer whose theatricalhighlights include performances at the BostonLyric Opera as Hermann in Les contes d’Hoff-mann, The Gamekeeper in Rusalka, and Schau-nard in La Bohème. During the 2009–10 season,he performed in the title role of Don Giovanniwith Opera New Jersey, Dancairo in Carmenwith the Boston Lyric Opera, and Figaro in Ilbarbiere di Siviglia with the Knoxville Opera, theDayton Opera, Bob JonesUniversity and National

Philharmonic, among others.Motzkin, one of five students to per-

form for Garland during the masterclass,says, “Mr. Garland spent several minutesworking with me on something I hadn’treally associated with music before: acting.Following the masterclass, I performed thepiece for my voice teacher and was able to communicate its mes-sage much more convincingly.”Both Garland and theApple Hill String Quartet performed at

assembly and gave a public concert during their visits to campus.—Compiled by Nicole Pellaton

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Watch excerptsfrom both mas-terclasses atwww.exeter.edu/bulletinextras.

The Exeter Bulletin SPRING 2011

(Above) Leonard

Matczynski, of Apple

Hill String Quartet.

(Right) Baritone

Andrew Garland.



Around theTable

Notes from a Math ChampionAN EXONIAN COMPETES IN ROMANIA

Shijie “Joy” Zheng ’11 is no stranger to international math compe-titions.The two-time gold medal winner of the China Girls Math-ematics Olympiad traveled to Bucharest, Romania, in February to

compete in the Romanian Master of Mathematics and Sciences 2011.Zheng was one of only six high school students in the country invited

to be on the U.S. team, which was sponsored by the Mathematical Asso-ciation of America. Zheng and her teammates were selected because oftheir scores in the 2010 American Mathematics Competitions and theUnited States of America Mathematical Olympiad, along with their per-formance at the previous summer’s Mathematical Olympiad SummerProgram.They were among 90 students from 13 countries to compete inRomania.

The U.S. contingent ultimately took gold as the overall team winner.Zheng received an honorable mention for the complete solution she pro-vided to the fourth problem,one of six the students tackled over two days.What follows is a brief narrative by Zheng on her experience in Roma-nia.

The last moments before the math begins are oddly anticlimactic. I take a sip ofwater, shuffle the pens around on my desk, and wait for the problems to arrive.

The minute hand slid into place. 9:30 a.m.—time to start. A proctor in myroom began passing out folders with answer sheets, scratch paper and, finally, prob-lems—each contestant would receive a copy in his or her own language.The threeproblems on that green slip of paper, and three more the next day, would occupy usfor nine hours of competition. I began to methodically read through the problems.Anticipation did not yet creep up on me—it sets in during the last 10 minutes ofeach competition day, when I pore over my scratch paper and scribble in the remain-ing blank spots, wondering whether I will manage to come up with anything worthpoints in these final moments. Here was no different.

My flight had touched down just 24 hours ago at the airport in Romania, andnow I sat in a classroom of Tudor Vianu, a Bucharest high school. In a week, Iwould return to Exeter for the last three days of winter term. Until then, I wouldbe here for the Romanian Master of Mathematics and Sciences competition as amember of the U.S. team—and then, after the math, also as a tourist.

Though Bucharest is home to a number of Romania’s national museums, I laterrealized with mild amusement that I had not actually set foot in a single gallery orexhibit over that week. Instead, we strolled around the city on the heels of ourguides, all of whom were students at Tudor Vianu.We did, in fact, see the famousstatues and monuments in passing while going through the city.On the other hand,I learned about the history of Romania not from museum placards, but from mur-mured explanations by one of our guides while watching a historical pantomime atBucharest’s largest theater.

While I cannot claim to have come to a complete understanding of Romaniaover just a few days, I did have the amazing opportunity to see part of a countrywithout much of its tourist veneer.Thank you to our guides, our coaches, and every-body else at the competition and behind the scenes!

—Shijie “Joy” Zheng ’11

Shijie “Joy” Zheng ’11 in front ofTudorVianu, the

Bucharest high school where she competed in the

Romanian math tournament.

“Anticipation did not yetcreep up on me—it sets induring the last 10 minutesof each competition day...”



Around theTable

Ted Probert P’12, an independentschool advancement veteran whooversaw the record-breaking Exeter

Initiatives campaign, was appointed directorof the Academy’s Alumni/ae Affairs andDevelopment (AA&D) Office in February.His selection followed a six-month nation-wide search for a successor to Jim Theisen’40, ’45, ’52, ’66 (Hon.); P’97, who retiredMarch 1 after 35 years of service to Exeter.

“Ted brings to the directorship profi-ciency in fundraising as well as demonstrat-ed leadership ability,” says Principal TomHassan ’56, ’66, ’70, ’06 (Hon.); P’11.“Onekey to his success is his ability to workcooperatively with the various groups inAA&D and across campus.This team-build-ing skill is a hallmark ofTed’s leadership andpromises to have a powerful impact on theAA&D staff.”

Prior to his appointment, Probert ledAA&D’s outreach to current parents and tosupporters living outside of the United States.Previously he served as director of The Ex-eter Initiatives (2004–09), which raised $352million for theAcademy—16 percent beyondits $305 million goal.The campaign remainsthe most successful fundraising effort everconducted by a secondary school.

“It is an incredible honor to succeed JimTheisen,”Probert says.“I hope to build on thesense of ownership and commitment hehelped instill among alumni/ae, parents andfriends—and to guide their efforts to makethis great institution even more vibrant in thefuture.”

Before his arrival at Exeter in 2002,Probert held development positions at theKent School andThe Lawrenceville School.Alieutenant colonel with the United States Ma-rine Corps Reserve, he has served two toursof active duty during his 18-year military ca-reer. In 2004, he took a yearlong hiatus fromhis duties at Exeter to deploy to Iraq, wherehe served as the Engineer Company com-mander for 165 Marines. He lives in New-buryport, MA,with his wife,Andi, sonTannerand daughter Campbell ’12.

—Sam O’Neill

Ted Probert Chosen to LeadAA&D

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Online RedesignWe’ve redesigned www.exeter.edu to make information more easily

accessible. Check out some of the site highlights:

New interactive alumni/ae section.Turn to page 37 in this issue to get

an overview from Dave Underhill ’69.

What’s My Day Like profiles on the homepage.Whether it’s Millie,

Mustafa,Monique or Ben you’re curious about, you can get a quick pic-

torial preview of student life before going to detailed individual profiles.

News, news, and more news.We’ve heard loud and clear from parents,

alums and students.You’ll see more links to news throughout the web-

site, and more pictures and videos of recent events.

Bigger is better.Although not always true, in this case the old adage

adds up to easier and quicker scanning of information because we’ve

broadened the website page and increased the text size.

Drop-down menus from the main navigation bar.Now you can select

subtopics with one click—making life simpler for those who know exact-

ly what they’re looking for.

We’d love your feedback on the new website. Please send comments

to [email protected].

Ted Probert at an alumni/ae event in San Francisco.


For one weekend in mid-February, winter’s chill was forgotten for the coldmachinations of a murderous barber. Students put on three sold-out per-formances of Stephen Sondheim’s musical SweeneyTodd on FisherTheater’s

mainstage.Set in 1840s London, the staging was inspired by old lithographs, explains Sarah

Ream ’75; P’09, P’11, chair of the Theater and Dance Department, in the show’sDirector’s Notes. “We turned to the notion of oldVictorian and Edwardian litho-graphs and the kind of pen-and-inkillustrations used in early editions ofDickens’ stories.”

The limited color palette on-stage, she explains, created a“sharp-ened visual response to color. Mychoice was to create the ‘blood’through the use of specific, sporadicsaturated flashes of red onstage,rather than employing more literalstage gore.This is a thriller and itshould frighten the audiencethrough the power of its storytellingand its music; but it need not be ahorror show. It is chilling enough tocontemplate what a man can dowhen his need for revenge over-powers his conscience, his restraint,and his reason.”


Around theTable

SweeneyTodd Unleashed Upon PEA

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’11

(Above) Chorus members enjoy

Mrs. Lovett’s “meat” pies. (Middle)

Alec Bronder ’11 stars as Sweeney

Todd and Dulcinée DeGuere ’11

as his landlady,Mrs. Lovett. (Left)

Evan Strouss ’11 plays the young

sailor who falls in love withTodd’s

daughter, played by Rebecca

Millstein ’12.


From the first floor of the Davis Center, John Hutchinscan watch students come and go along the paths visiblefrom his office window. It’s a nice complement to the

work at hand—calculating financial aid offers for the need-basedapplicants who apply to PEA each year.

In the middle of his second admissions season at the Academy,Hutchins, director of financial aid, can point to onlyone hardship with his job: “You can’t say yes toeverybody,” despite there being such a large poolof “really great kids.”

In fact, Hutchins’ time is spent, inpart, on hundreds of offers that willnever ultimately be awarded.And that’sa good thing.

“The Admissions Committee knowsnothing about the financial situationof the kids they are selecting foradmission,” he explains. “We fund100 percent of the demonstratedneed after the committee says, ‘Thisis the kid we’re taking.’ ”

This process may mean more workfor Hutchins, but he doesn’t seem tomind, not when he thinks about thesize and scope of the financial aid pro-gram at Exeter, a place he says “had longbeen a goal of mine to work at.”

Hutchins, a native of Concord, MA,was no stranger to Exeter when he inter-viewed in 2009 for the position held byRick Mahoney ’61; ’74, ’95 (Hon.); P’88, P’92,whowas retir ing that year. Hutchins’ father, John C.Hutchins ’57, and sister, Kristin ’84, both attended theAcademy.Hutchins had also spent nearly two decades working atindependent schools, including Mercersburg Academy, in Penn-sylvania, and Gould Academy, in Maine, but Exeter, he says, “isreally seen as the pinnacle of the profession.”

That’s due, in part, to the “incredible resources” available tothe student body. For the current academic year,Hutchins pointsout, the percentage of students on need-based financial aid is thehighest amongst Exeter’s peer schools.These financial aid grantsamount to $15, 852, 834.“The scope of the financial aid programin terms of the number of students it serves just goes beyondanything I expected,” says Hutchins.

That scope has held steady despite an economic recession thatleft few individuals or organizations unscathed. “[The financial

aid budget] hasn’t appreciably decreased,” Hutchins says,“whichI think is remarkable given that it’s 100 percent endowed, and theendowment dropped by [a few] percentage points.That’s an indi-cation of Exeter’s commitment to its financial aid program.”

With more than 60 percent of applicants for 2011-12 admis-sions indicating an interest in financial aid, Hutchins’ short-term

goal is “to make sure we’re doing every-thing we can to support the students wehave,” both current and new. Thatincludes continuing to offer a freeExeter education to admitted studentswhose family income is $75,000 or less.Currently, nearly 200 students are on fullfinancial aid scholarships.

“It makes Exeter feel much moreaccessible to families who might nototherwise consider independent schooleducation or even Exeter for that mat-ter,” he says. “[The $75k initiative]makes it concrete for them, it’s some-thing they can put their fingers on andsay, ‘OK I can do this,’ provided they areaccepted.”

Long term, Hutchins’ “wish list”includes finding funding sources toestablish summer study programs forfinancial aid students.A fund, for exam-ple, was recently created by an alumnusto support students doing a summerservice project with Exeter Social Serv-ice Organization (ESSO). He hopes tobe able to offer similar opportunities tostudents over time.

Hutchins is also an adviser and dorm affiliate, and he coachedJV soccer last fall.“That, I loved,” says the avid outdoorsman.“Itwas really fun to get out, and it’s important to be connected tothe daily lives of the students. It’s too easy to get locked up inyour office.”

An alpine skier and mountaineer, Hutchins can sometimes befound rock climbing in and around North Conway,NH.He mayeven,on occasion,be accompanied by PEA’s CFO ChrisWejchertor Science Instructor David Gulick. But that’s only when he’s notspending time with his wife, Susan, and their two children—John,6, and Elizabeth, 2—or finding ways to continue making Exeteraffordable for incoming Exonians.


Around theTable

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CA

RLSO

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Putting an “E” inAffordabilityTABLE TALK WITH JOHN HUTCHINS, F INANCIAL AID DIRECTORBy Karen Ingraham


Classics Professor Joshua Katz of PrincetonUniversity came to Exeter recently for atwo-week residency.A linguist, classicist and

comparative philologist,Katz taught Latin and Greekclasses, gave seminars and public lectures, and workedindividually with Exeter students. His well-attendedseminars were highly interactive as he challengedstudents to solve linguistic puzzles.

“He really opened up the problem-solving in-volved in linguistics, which is a lot of fun and veryimportant work in terms of our history, how wespeak, how we think, who we are,” says Ravi Bajaj’12,who has studied German at Exeter, and attendedthe“Introduction to Historical and Comparative Lin-guistics” seminar.“I remember a particularly interest-ing exercise where we pieced together a rootlanguage given a vocabulary table of four or five Poly-nesian languages. . . . It was nice because we had arange of experiences in the crowd who could con-tribute—some French speakers, some German, someSpanish, some Latin, some Greek.”

The advanced Latin and Greek students foundKatz’s insight into classical literature invaluable. “He definitelychallenged me to think about more than the etymology of thewords I was reading on the page,” explains Isaac Lederman ’11, anadvanced Greek student who studied Homer’s Odyssey with thevisiting scholar.“This came in handy, as I read a great deal of linesat sight with him.Though we read at a fast clip—faster than I’veever read before—he was still able to teach me more than justgrammar. . . . He was able to show that there’s more to Latin andGreek than just memorizing forms or interpreting texts.”

“We were all amazed when he pointed out literary devices in-fused in the text that we wouldn’t have noticed on our own,” saysChristine McEvoy ’12, whose Latin class read Book 6 ofVergil’sAeneid with Katz. “For example, he showed us howVergil hadused ‘vertical enthesis,’ using the first letter of each word of 10lines of the text, to create another sentence.This extra sentenceadded significant figurative meaning to The Cumaean Sibyl’sProphecy of Book 6.”

Younger students also found Katz a thought-provokingteacher. “He made me challenge my long-held belief that lan-guages were like species—evolving due to geographical changes,time, etc.—and made me consider the effect we, as humans,specifically English-speakers, had on languages spoken all aroundthe world,” says Olamide Ogunbambo, a prep, who has studiedFrench, Chinese, Spanish and Latin.

The visiting scholar residency was hosted and managed by Ex-eter’s Department of Classical Languages, with funding from the

Behr Fund.“This visit has been so exciting for all of us, and alsoin ways I had not foreseen,” says Sally Morris P’07, P’08, P’10,chair of the department.“Not only are the lectures great, but weare able to chat about curriculum and teaching ideas in ProfessorKatz’s down time in our department office.This opportunity, abenefit to anyone interested in classical topics and language—adults, students, children, parents, faculty and staff—is in keepingwith the deed of gift for the Behr Fund, and yet it incorporatesthe entire Academy community. The magical part is Joshua’scharisma.We are truly fortunate.”

A native of NewYork, Katz earned his undergraduate degreein linguistics fromYale University in 1991, a master’s degree fromOxford University in 1993; and a Ph.D. from Harvard Universityin 1998. He is the recipient of awards and fellowships from theAmerican Council of Learned Societies, the AndrewW.MellonFoundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities andthe National Science Foundation. Since joining the faculty atPrinceton in 1998,Katz has been awarded the President’s Distin-guishedTeaching Award in 2003 and the Phi Beta KappaTeach-ing Award in 2008. In 2010, he was awarded a Loeb ClassicalLibrary Foundation Fellowship and a John Simon GuggenheimMemorial Foundation Fellowship. Last fall, he served as aVisitingFellow atAll Souls College in Oxford,United Kingdom, and thisspring will serve a term as a Directeur d’études invité at the Écolepratique des Hautes Études in Paris.

—Nicole Pellaton


Around theTable

WhatVergilWasThinkingVIS IT ING SCHOLAR OFFERS NEW INSIGHT INTO OLD LANGUAGES

Professor Joshua Katz works with classics students.

NIC

OLE

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Answers to theWinter 2011 Issue:

Exonians pursued the clues andcorrectly identified the mysteryroom as the Latin Study, located

across from the Assembly Hall in theAcademy Building.

Our two randomly selectedwinners are:Sarah Burd ’03, Milwaukee,WI, who re-ceived an Exeter pen.

“I believe that the mystery room is theLatin Study, located next to the AssemblyHall.The room, it seems to me, was mostoften used to host smaller discussions withassembly speakers.”

Diana Davis ’03, of Providence, RI, whoreceived an Exeter pen.

“From your description, the room inthe photo must be the Latin Study. I havenever been in the room, though I know itwas often used for greeting assemblyspeakers and for prize exams.”

Souls of StudentsI can’t relate to [picture] B of the winterBulletin, but I guess that A is the facultymeeting room, on the second floor of theAcademy Building, directly above Mr.Hatch’s classroom in the southeast corner.Where all the faculty met every week to“sift out the souls” of students.When Iwas there, the faculty ran PEA. “I guess”because this room was “off-limits” toboys. I never saw inside the old room, butI heard that each faculty [member] hadhis chair. And the principal chaired themeetings. I can’t recognize anyone but“Salty” [PrincipalWilliam Saltonstall ’24]in the center.

Larry Clark ’53Wilsonville,AL

A Place for ClassicsPer the question in the [winter] Bulletin, Ibelieve it was the meeting room for theClassics Society. It’s in theAcademy Build-ing, on the same floor as theAssembly Hall.

Will Shepler ’97Santa Monica, CA


Around theTable

ExonianaDO YOU REMEMBER?At PEA, some of the oldest buildingshave changed in either form or functionduring their years on campus. A fewhave even changed addresses.A PEA French instructor first owned

the c. 1810 house pictured before itbecame Academy property. In 1961 thebuilding was moved from its Tan Lanelocation to another lot on the samestreet in order to accommodate newconstruction at the school.Can you name the house and either

its former or current location? (Hint:The house, first named after its owner,was renamed after its move.) Pleaseinclude any memories you may have of events in the house, or of those who lived there.Email your responses to [email protected]. Or, send them to Exoniana, c/o The Exeter Bulletin,

Phillips Exeter Academy, Communications Office, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833-2460. Entries maybe edited for length and clarity.

A

B



LettersWhy ‘Buy Global’ MattersAs a 13-year veteran of the USDA, whostarted her international agr iculturalcareer in 1988 as a Peace Corps volunteerteaching English at the Northwest Fron-tier Province Agricultural University inPeshawar, Pakistan, I read with interestyour cover article [winter 2011] on whereand how the Academy purchases food forits 1,000-plus students and faculty. I ampleased and gratified that Exonians notonly care about what goes into theirmouths but are bold enough to demandanswers from the principal about thefoodstuff ’s origins. Hard questions fromour youth can force our country to findsolutions to complicated questions aboutagriculture production, research, the useof genetics, natural resource conservationand nutrition.While I applaud the search for answers,

I must admit to dismay with the notionthat buying locally is an answer to ournation’s—Earth’s—food challenges. Overa billion people—one in every six per-sons—do not have access to enough foodto eat.A plethora of countries believe thatfood sufficiency is the answer to hungrypopulations, arguing that if a countrygrows enough food locally, its people willnot go hungry.This food sufficiency poli-cy may work if one lives in fertile NewHampshire, a state where farmers reapbountiful summer harvests and which is inclose proximity (in the grand scheme oflife) to other states that enjoy productiveagricultural land. Moreover, our nationinvested in the infrastructure such asextension agents, irrigation systems andresearch, enabling us to make the most ofour rich but finite resources.This theory of food sufficiency does

not work, however, in the Middle East,where most of the land is not arable andthe cost of desalinating water makes thecommodities prohibitively costly (SaudiArabia was producing wheat for$800/metric ton; the March 9, 2011 pricefor wheat in the United States peaked at arecord high of $519/metric ton). Nordoes the theory work in China, now thesecond-largest producer of corn, wherethe use of groundwater is at such alarming

levels that there is a serious threat to accessto water (a billion people also do not haveaccess to safe drinking water). Countriesare not all created equal in terms of theamount and type of agricultural productsthey can grow.

Read the letter in its entirety at www.exeter.edu/bulletinextras.

Jocelyn G. Brown Hall ’84Washington, D.C.

What is ‘Green’?Your article on the “locavore” culture atExeter [winter 2011] was interesting, but Iwonder if this movement is as “green” as itseems. Food grown close by (300 miles?400 miles?) may sometimes have a smallercarbon footprint than food grown fartheraway, [but] this is by no means always so.There are substantial transportation effi-ciency differentials, for example. Haulingby truck from 300 miles away in Pennsyl-vania may cause as big a footprint as traintransport for food and vegetables grown inMexico or California because train trans-port is more efficient.Even more important are differentials

in the raising of food itself. Where soilsand climates are most amenable to grow-ing certain foods, far less pesticide and fer-tilizer may be needed to grow those foods,and those good growing seasons are notlikely to be in New England. Objectiveanalysts, for example, have determinedthat the carbon footpr int for NewZealand lamb consumed in England issmaller than the footprint of a similarquantity of lamb grown in England,because the New Zealand farmers arevastly more efficient at lamb production.The same is true of many other foods inother places.It’s great to be green but it’s also great

to be rational. Supporting local farmers toprevent “development,” may sound good,but most former farm acreage in NewEngland has returned to forest.That’s whythere is a great deal more forest in theNortheast today than there was 100 yearsago. Is that bad? Further: Is it more moralto support a local farmer than one somedistance away, especially if that farmer inMexico or Chile is less well-off thanfarmers in New Hampshire or NewYork?Some of these questions are complex

and I do not pretend to have the answers to

them. I only suggest thatthinking about thesethings rationally isbetter than follow-ing what appears,from your articleat least, to be aform of group-think that Exeter’sfaculty always used toteach us to avoid.

Philip D.Harvey ’56Cabin John,MD

Slam DunkI am really excited about and delighted bythe water polo article [winter 2011]. Fromthe Academy, I went on to the Universityof Chicago in the fall of 1939.There, I wasintroduced to water polo, which I playedfor three years.At the time, not many col-leges in the area offered the sport. (Asexamples, Iowa State and the University ofWisconsin did.) Consequently we alsoplayed in the Chicago Industrial League, arugged group.Art Bethke, a sort of Michael Phelps as

a swimmer in that day,played in“the hole”and was high scorer. I played in the “out-side point” position [and] was second inscoring,well behindArt.Charles “Chuck”Percy, later a U.S. senator, was captain.I am so pleased by the position of water

polo at Exeter and impressed by what Ihave just read about the Reavill brothers.

John “Jack”W.Ragle ’39Lebanon, NH

Time-Sharing at ExeterI read with great interest the article aboutinnovators schooled at Exeter [winter2011].There is one correction I would liketo point out to you. Page 31 says that in1967, the first time-sharing teletype wasinstalled at Exeter.I know for certain that it was installed in

1965, or perhaps sooner.As a senior, class of1966, I was taking AP Physics (Mr.Brincker-hoff) and we used the time-sharing terminalfor the academic year 1965 to 1966. It mighthave even been there sooner, but 1965 wasmy first usage.John Kemeny was on the Dartmouth

faculty.He is credited with the developmentof BASIC language (Beginner’s All-purposeSymbolic Instruction Code). The Dart-

Around theTable


mouth system started up on May 1, 1964.Needless to say,this introduction to com-

puters stayed with me my entire academiccareer at MIT (S.B. in aeronautics and astro-nautics) and Boston University (for anM.B.A. in finance), and [all] through myworking career.

Joseph G. Kubit ’66New London, NH

Editor’s Note:Thank you for the correction!Wewent back to the Academy Archives and foundan April 1966 Bulletin article, written byJames F. Bowring ’68, entitled “ATime-Shar-ing Computer at Exeter.”The article begins:“InJanuary of 1965, the Academy became a sub-scribing user of Dartmouth College’s time-shar-ing computer system and a new educational toolthereby became part of Exeter’s teaching and self-teaching facilities.” Bowring writes that Exeterhad one of 30 “remote teletype consoles locatedin schools and other institutions through theNew England States.”

The Seeds of InnovationMy first invention was in 1980, when Ipatented some important elements ofhigh-resolution monitors. Moniterm,which is the company that I started andevolved using that technology,was the firstsupplier of high-res monitors to the com-puter industry.The high-res monitor wasimportant at that time, since both desktoppublishing and computerized CAD/CAMwere just evolving, and only low-res mon-itors were available.The first 20,000 mon-itors bought by Sun Microsystems camefrom Moniterm. The company grew to450 employees, and had a great run.Also, for another of my companies, I

have patents on camera technology whichis still being used in the classroom, withover 250,000 of the FlexCam cameras formicroscopes being sold. I started ninecompanies so far,with four of them grow-ing to become publicly owned corpora-tions. Other inventions that I have beeninvolved with include developing an algo-rithm for interpreting written music, anunderwater camera, a miniature camerafor the model railroad train enthusiast,[and] a special bird-watching camerawhich records the real-time audio andvideo inside birdhouses. (I have a greattape of a complete sequence of a woodduck hatch, all the way from egg status to

ducklings emerging from the duckhouse.) Another of my companies isactively working in national security try-ing to anticipate cyberconflict issues forSandia National Labs.We just completedwork developing some searching technol-ogy for the U.S. Department of State.

Ward C. Johnson ’60Edina,MN

Maker of the ‘Darce Detector’The following is an edited excerpt from a 50threunion essay written by John Ackley ’59.In the fall of 1955, a group of a dozen

or so boys arrived at Exeter from the sameNewYork City elementary school. I wasone of them.Had I not had the support ofthis group, I do not know how I wouldhave survived Exeter.But survive I did, and I went on to

Dartmouth, the Navy, [and] several jobs,until finally the realization that I was, deepdown, an “outside the box” technicalthinker who might as well try to do some-thing socially useful as an inventor. Onemajor project is “Miles-Per-Gallon” forBuildingsTM. This involves using degree-days to track weather coldness in themicroclimate outside a building and com-paring this on a real-time basis to theenergy that has been used to heat thebuilding. The resulting ratio is an overallreading of the efficiency of the buildingenvelope, the heating system, and, mostimportantly, the behavior of the occu-pants. Princeton’s Twin Rivers study inthe ’80s showed a 10 to 13 percent savingsby providing such computer-based “feed-back.” The project won several grants,including one from the U.S. Departmentof Energy.Another project is [the development

of] an ultra high performance nanoscalemortar for seawalls that offers a highresistance to freeze/thaw and chlorideattack from salt water.There was a turning point for me

at Exeter when I took Physics from thechairman of the department, CharlesBickel. For weeks, there was little love lostbetween us. Early in the course he warnedme that I had better pay more attention, orI would flunk. (In fact, I found the materi-al interesting but easy. I was probablybored.) When the departmental examcame around, he told his son, Charles ’59,

to tell me (off the record) that I had gottenthe only perfect score in the entire depart-ment. The teacher had been wrong aboutthe student.And vice versa.Anyone who had Mr. Curwin for an

English teacher will be unlikely to forgethim. “The Darce” was my teacher, myadviser, and a sporting challenge for all ofus who lived in Cilley Hall. . . . For my part,I built a “Darce Detector” that was intend-ed to sound an alert if any teacher got nearthe door handle of the room. (Too bad itnever worked reliably.)

John Ackley ’59Stonington, CT

Kip’s CorrectionThis is Charles “Kip” Davis here, class of’71. After seeing myself misidentified inthe [fall 2010 Bulletin] article about Ben-mont Tench ’71, I contacted my brotherAnthony, class of ’69, who said he wouldwrite to you and straighten things out. Somuch for older brothers having your back.I was one of at least three Kips at the

Academy at that time, and was the vocalistin Benmont’s band first half of senior year.I left for Rennes and the “School BoyAbroad” Program, as it was called then, inJanuary (against the advice of my dormhead) and received my diploma in the mail(with a letter to “Dear Chuck” attached).Benmont, Bill Magoon ’71 and I all

lived inWentworth,where I was a proctor. Ileft Exeter for France not only to studyFrench language and culture but [also] toavoid witnessing the inevitable second-semester senior expulsions that seemed todefine my time at Exeter. Benmont, it mustbe remembered, always played the blues.So, one photo has done more to bring

me out than any of the stock solicitationsI have received over the years, thoughWillHunter’s eloquent 40th reunion letter didsorely tempt this disaffected alum to revis-it those unpleasant times and to re-con-nect with some old friends. I don’t quiteunderstand why Tom Donovan ’71 justleft me hanging!So to Tom and Will, thanks for trying

to make sense out of it all and to give ussome kind of closure, and thanks to Ben-mont for providing the music that willstay with some of us forever.

Charles C.“Kip”Davis ’71NewYork, NY


Around theTable


Charles Pratt’s poems sometimes risk seeming to be pleasing, economical andgraceful but also,well,mild. But he is a poet of loss as well as of harvests, a poetof cycles that both sustain us and embody our mortality. I sometimes think of

him as a gentler Robert Frost, Frost with an affirming flame if I can borrow fromAuden, but he is not only gentle.For one thing Pratt’s mastery of his tools is so unusual that I want to try to evoke it

before I describe the poems’ themes. It is not just that he makes remarkably varied andskillful use of alliteration, full rhyme, and half rhyme. Somehow these devices are oftenboth essential to the poems and almost inaudible:Typically one sees and appreciates themonly afterward. The poems’ musicality is not intoxicating (as it sometimes is in Keats,Thomas, or Shakespeare’s sonnets) but instead, for all its loveliness, remains subordinate tothe sense of an actual voice, talking rather than reciting. Still, the musicality is more thanincidental, and Pratt is kin toWilbur, Frost,Auden, Stevens, evenYeats, rather than to the(also glorious) barbaric yawp ofWhitman and his descendants. (Readers are fortunate anddo not need to make exclusive choices.) In these collective poems form and rhyme them-selves come to seem a metaphor for the fluid but finite boundaries we all live within; Pratt’s patientand inventive use of these fruitful formal constraints is itself a metaphor for our capacity to embracewhatever is precious within the larger patterns that number and circumscribe our days.Further, Pratt ’52; P’83, P’84 is not at all conventional in his use of the devices and techniques he

draws on.“May 15,” for instance, in its seven short lines, works out its own rhythm in a sort of con-versation between the iamb and the anapest, in the end giving the poem a voice that alludes to metermore than adheres to it.And in another conversation between discipline and freedom, it rhymes:Theunderlying scheme is abcabc,but the sixth line, the one before the final repetition, is a nonconformistx. (A still more intricate practice of adherence and departure informs “TheVerandah,” perhaps themost ambitious and certainly one of the great poems in the collection.)As anyone who has tried to work within a formal convention knows, it is delicate business to

both draw on the convention and depart from it. Pratt’s subtle intrepidity in this respect is one sec-tion of the high bar his poems sail over with apparent effortlessness.Yet for all the richness and sub-tlety of the rhymed poems in this collection, some of the most enduringly memorable poems, like“White Dogwood,” are in free verse, if that’s the right term for poetry of such precision and delicacy.Similarly in “The Merger,” where the “you” is the Pratts’ son, Pratt remembers a narrow escape fromdeath in very early adulthood and concludes:

. . . I met

And married your mother, and you were born

And have grown up to meet and marry, and I

Have begun to understand the blind

Release of self to the will of another

And the answering wise, dispassionate

Restraint of the merger we call marriage.

Nothing could be less surprising than that here, where there is no obvious contract with rhyme,Pratt’s ear continues to acknowledge its possibility, its value, through “I”/“blind” and the a-sound that


Exonians in Review

A Master CraftsmanF RO M T H E B OX M A R K E D SOME ARE MISS ING,BY CHARLES W. PRATT ’52A review by David Weber

This volume brings

together many of the

poems from Charles

Pratt’s three previous

books, along with 32

more that have been

previously published

only in periodicals.

Sp11_EIR_4_13_11.qxp:Layout 1 4/13/11 12:16 PM Page 17

is shared between“dispassionate” and“marriage.”Here and elsewhere the poems sustaina second marriage, one between voice and form, in which for all their theoretical sepa-rateness the voice is so deliberate and distinctive and the chosen form so varied in itsrichness that we find a union of the wills of two partners, each retaining its integrity.

These poems are not, then,of course, just about form. In Pratt’s poems, as in our lives,mortality and the regenerative cycles of the natural world are the braided contexts forhuman purpose and love.These poems, true to those severe and perennially miraculous

surroundings, share their complexity, their gravi-ty, and their beauty in simultaneous consolationand celebration. “Resolution,” the book’s finalpoem, begins with a title that suggests both anintention—a vow—and a real answer (thoughthat word is too crude) to the deep riddles of joy,change and mortality that the book engages.The poem’s purposeful repetitions—“patting thedog, kneading the bread, holding my lover,drinking our coffee”—enumerate the simplethings the speaker most resolutely values, theones he will bear out even to the edge of doom.The speaker imagines various terminal cata-clysms—tsunami, windstorm, earthquake, sui-cide bombing—as stark emblems of life’s perhapssudden ending, and in the beginning the poemexpresses the wry and somber hope that the

speaker “may for once be ready.” But by the end, after considering different things onemight be doing when doom erupts, the speaker has redefined readiness as an acceptancethat transcends preparation: “Let us be drinking our coffee, unprepared.”The “us” isboth domestic and much more inclusive than that: It includes the reader, includes us.

An analogous moment occurs in “Wolsey’s Hole” (about a perilous swimming holethat once almost claimed his father), where Pratt asks:

. . . Can I learn

To think of death not as infinite contraction,

Curtains closed over midnight, but as curtains drawn back

To let in the moon and the stars, the whole horizon,

To let in the dead and the living—a rope thrown down

To haul me from the hole of my heart, all dripping and shining?

It is a wonderful question both within and beyond the poem, one that carries ayearning for transcendence independent of any distinct theology.To note the alliterationand the consonance (haul/hole) seems a pedantic irrelevance, except that this perfectassimilation of poetic technique into a personal voice—one that is neither pretentiousnor colloquial, let alone pedestrian—is essential to the way the poems work, and workon us.They are sometimes playful and always meditative, honest and deep, and I lookforward to reading them again and again.

DavidWeber ’71, ’74 (Hon.); P’92 is the 1981 Independence Foundation Professor and instructor emeri-

tus in English.


In Pratt’s poems, as in our lives,mortalityand the regenerative cycles of the naturalworld are the braided contexts forhuman purpose and love.



Exonians in Review

Alumni/ae are urged to advise the Exonians in Review editor of their own publications, recordings, films, etc.,in any field, and those of classmates.Whenever possible, authors and composers are encouraged to send onecopy of their books and original copies of articles to Edouard Desrochers ’45, ’62 (Hon.), the editor of Exoni-ans in Review, Phillips ExeterAcademy, 20 Main Street, Exeter,NH 03833.

ALUMNI/AE1951—Sabin Robbins. ACruiser’s Guide to OceanWonders. (CreateSpace,2011)

1955—Richard Bevis. Im-ages of Liberty:The ModernAesthetics of Great NaturalSpace. (Trafford Publishing,2010)

1956—Peter Brooks. TheEmperor’s Body. (W.W.Norton, 2011)

1956—Walter R.Niessen. Combustion andIncineration Processes:Appli-cations in EnvironmentalEngineering. [4th ed.](CRC Press, 2010)

1957—David P.Simmons. The Sum of HerParts. (iUniverse, 2010)

1961—Stuart Rawlings.Memories. [CD] (SierraDreams Press, 2010)

1961—Stephen Spurr. InSearch of the Kuskokwimand Other Great Endeavors.(Epicenter Press, 2010)

1963—Bill Schubart.Fat People. (Magic Hill LLC,2010)

1971—DougWhite. TheNonprofit Challenge: Inte-grating Ethics into the Pur-pose and Promise of OurNation’s Charities. (PalgraveMacmillan, 2010)

1976—NorbVonnegut.The Gods of Greenwich.(Minotaur Books, 2011)

1983—Chang-rae Lee.The Surrendered. (River-headTrade, 2010)

1989—Edward E. CurtisIV.Muslims in America:AShort History. (Oxford Uni-versity Press, 2009)

1989—Ann SarahGagliardi, translator. TwiceBorn:A Novel. (Viking Adult,2011)

1990—John G. Palfrey,co-editor. Access Controlled:The Shaping of Power, Rights,and Rule in Cyberspace.(The MIT Press, 2010)

1991—Brian Ripel andJean Shin.Unlocking. [art

exhibit] (Scottsdale Mu-seum of ContemporaryArt, 2010)

1996—Mike Herrod. Bal-loonToons: Doggie Dreams.(Blue Apple Books, 2011)

— Monster Comics. (BlueApple Books, 2010)

1998—Win Butler andWill Butler ’01. The Sub-urbs. [CD by Arcade Fire].(Merge Records, 2010)

2001—Will Butler andWin Butler ’98. The Sub-urbs. [CD by Arcade Fire].(Merge Records, 2010)

BRIEFLY NOTED1966—Lewis B. Lane andothers.“Scapholunate Dis-sociationWith Radiolu-nate ArthritisWithoutRadioscaphoid Arthritis.”IN Journal of Hand Surgery.(v. 35A, July 2010)

1996—Jasmine DreameWagner.“Black Swans” and“How to Draw a Mocking-bird.” [poems] IN Caketrain.(no. 8, november 2010)

FACULTYL.Todd Hearon.“NoOther Gods,” “AfterWords” and “Circe’s

Sister.” [poems] IN Arts &Letters. (no. 24, fall 2010)

FORMER BENNETTFELLOWGinaApostol. The Revolu-tion According to RaymundoMata. (Anvil Publishing,Inc., 2009)

Maggie Dietz.“AreWeThereYet?” and “LateSpring.” [poems] IN Salma-gundi. (nos. 168-169, fall2010-winter 2011)

—“Pluto.” [poem] INHarvard Review. (no. 38, fall2010)

Calling all reviewers!If you are a book,music orfilm buff interested in thelatest works by fellowExonians, then considerbecoming a reviewer forthe Bulletin.You can pickthe genre and medium toreview. Email [email protected] for moreinformation.


artin Luther King Day To Be Recognized: JamesMontford, Minority Advisor, Ends Six Day Fast. Montford’sMethods QuestionedThis Exonian headline—dated December 9, 1989—leaps

off the page.Montford’s intention, the paper reports, was “toinspire the community to address what Martin Luther King Day represents for[theAcademy]” and to continue his fast “until an official policy for a formal recog-nition of Martin Luther King Day was passed.” His actions prompted PrincipalKendra Stearns O’Donnell ’31, ’47, ’63, ’91, ’97 (Hon.); P’00, six days later, toestablish a group that would create a program for January 1990. PEA’s first officialannual observance took place the following year.And so began the process of cel-ebration that would become, on January 14, 2011, the 20th anniversary of MLKDay at the Academy.But the groundwork began years earlier, when Barbara James ’74, ’85, ’93

(Hon.); P’80, P’81, student activities director, supported students’ requests forgreater community awareness of campus diversity issues and the lingering racism inAmerica. English Instructor Dolores Kendrick, the only woman of color on the


PEA’s MLK DM

How Exeter celebratesone man’s dream

By Christine Robinson ’83 (Hon.),with Mercy Carbonell ’96 (Hon.)

Sp11_MLK 4_13_10:Layout 1 4/13/11 11:35 AM Page 20

faculty, was also crucial in moving the Academy torecognize the needs of its minority students.With thesupport of the administration and other faculty mem-bers, she and James formed the Minority SupportGroup, which designed, in 1984, a symposium—including speakers, films, photo exhibits and discus-sions—that would take place between January andApril of 1985. Much of that work is lost in Exeter’scollective memory; it is the drama of Montford’shunger strike that the Academy remembers.As Jamesonce stated,“You can do all the groundwork you wantto do, but to make people move, you sometimes needone human act of rebellion.”And so, from modest beginnings, MLK Day has

become part of Exeter’s tradition, part of Exeter’s cur-riculum.And curriculum is an essential word, for stu-dents and faculty become engaged in serious work,intellectually and emotionally, in small discussion

groups, in lecture halls, in the theater, in the AssemblyHall, in Phillips Church.The campus becomes a class-room, and the text becomes the stories of peoples’search for justice and equality and peace.As part of her graduate work in education at Stan-

ford University, English Instructor Mercy Carbonell,then an English teaching intern at PEA, chose to lookat MLK Day 1995 to analyze the program with an eyeon its educational value. She notes how MLK Day’scurriculum“both stands out against the traditional cul-ture of the school and then reinforces and works inharmony with the philosophy and pedagogy at Exeter.”Offering workshops in spaces not generally associatedwith academia reinforces the Academy’s belief thateducation is never confined to the classroom.That year,for example,“Out Before the Ball is Pitched: Segrega-tion/Integration in Baseball”was a seminar held in theTad Jones Room of the Love Gym.


DayTurns 20MLK Day 2011:

(Left) James Mont-

ford, first dean of

multicultural affairs.

(Middle) Barbara

James, former

student activities

director and civil

rights activist.

(Right) Members of

Outkast and Imani

dance groups.



Carbonell’s essay, composed in the spring of 1997, speaks to the philosophi-cal and practical underpinnings of Exeter’s commitment to this celebration. Shenotes how the changing composition of the MLK Day Committee allows thecurriculum to be organic, responsive, evolving, sometimes “spontaneous andunpredictable.” She notes how this curriculum must acknowledge not only theliteral diversity of Exeter but the diversity of learning styles in our students aswell. She quotes Elliot Eisner, professor of education at Stanford University,whosays “. . . different forms of representation develop different cognitive skills.” Pro-grams that offer dance and music workshops, drama, lectures, photographyexhibits, films, and performance artists give students the opportunity, Carbonellwrites, to “learn to develop new and differing capacities for tolerance—not only

with the content of the workshop but also with the way in whichthey are learning that content.”In 1995, the committee chose the ASE Drumming Circle, a six-

woman percussion ensemble, for the opening assembly, an openingthat has most often been reserved for a famous speaker like JamesFarmer orYolanda King. It was risky to begin with a form of repre-

sentation that is not generally con-sidered “academic.” Carbonelldescribes the event:

I have an image of thePhillips Exeter Academy

Assembly Hall on January 17,1995, of the student body filing in for the required morningassembly, of boys in jackets and ties and girls in dresses and skirtsand blouses, of faculty and staff lined along the walls where por-traits of great Exeter men are hung, of the stage set up for singing.There is the familiar chatter before an assembly begins, the chat-ter of a school in waiting. And then there are the beginningsounds of a song—of whistles and rattles and triangles and drums.From the two back entryways, the musicians enter—six African-American women wearing traditional African dress, dancing andplaying their way through the aisles to the steps of the stage. . . .They encourage the students to get up out of their seats anddance.The students are shy in the beginning, perhaps nervous toactually dance through a morning assembly usually reserved for a

solemn or inspiring speaker. But by the time ASE is into the third song,the entire student body has risen and the students (even some faculty [and]staff) are moving their bodies to the rhythm of these women.

Carbonell remembers educational theorist Michael Apple’s interest in, he says,“What counts as knowledge, the ways in which it is organized,who is empoweredto teach it.”To open MLK Day with the ASE Drumming Circle is to recognize,according to Carbonell, that “knowledge, in this case the knowledge of MLK, ofcivil rights,of culture and freedom,can be found in music, in the dance, in the per-formance arts, in celebration. . . . In that action [to placeASE as the opening assem-bly], the committee was reorganizing what constitutes as knowledge.”Twenty January programs, 20 opportunities to design what Eisner calls “mul-

tiple forms of literacy” that will “provide unique forms of meaning.”As studentsmove from an experiential morning workshop to a lecture in the afternoon, orfrom a documentary film to a slam poetry performance, they are, Carbonellbelieves, “being asked ‘to read’ in two different ways.”While MLK Day hasalways focused on issues of social justice and equality, it has also been rooted indeep pedagogical soil.

The EvolutionHarkness: a man’s name, an adjective, perhaps even a verb. At the core of an

Two Decades ofMLK CelebrationsATimeline of Keynote Speakers

and Programs

1991 – James Farmer Jr., founder ofthe Congress of Racial Equality

1992 – Rev. Samuel Proctor, profes-sor emeritus of Rutgers Universityand recipient of 38 honorary degrees

1993 –Workshops led by Julian Bond,chairman of the NAACP, and Debo-rah “Arnie”Arnesen, former mem-ber of the New Hampshire House ofRepresentatives

1994 –Yolanda King, eldest daughterof Martin Luther King Jr. and CorettaScott King

1995 – Opening performance byASEDrumming Circle, a six-womandrumming and percussion group

1991: James Farmer Jr., keynotespeaker for the first formal MLKDay celebration.

Sp11_MLK 4_5_10:Layout 1 4/5/11 3:00 PM Page 22

Exeter education is the artistry and messiness of dialogue,where students learnhow to listen, how to build community from the heat of disagreement and thecomplexity of difference. And so, MLK Day programs cannot simply handdown knowledge from experts into the minds of passive listeners. In that way,students have been vital in the design of our programs and been essential par-ticipants in them. In 2004, Charly Simpson ’04 and Rachel Rhoades ’04,under the direction of Theater and Dance Instructor Rob Richards, per-formed The Meeting, a play depicting a fic-tional conversation between Malcolm Xand King. In 2005, a choreopoem byJames Chapmyn, One Race, One People,One Peace, was presented by students,under the guidance of Cary Wendell,designer and technical director of Fisher Theater.The list goes on:“In MLK’sOwnWords:A Student Reading” (2006);Radio Golf, byAugustWilson (2007);For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf, byNtozake Shange (2010); and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, by Anna DeavereSmith (2011).Discussion follows, the audience and cast engaged in an exploration of art

and history and conscience and hope.And Linda Luca, director of the danceprogram, has coordinated evening performances for years, often with the helpof theWest African Drumming Ensemble.How does Exeter sustain this celebration without it becoming stale and

repetitive, especially for the four-year seniors?Through the richness and depthand diversity of each MLK Day Committee—the ever-changing compositionof voluntary faculty, students and staff who are committed to Exeter’s peda-gogy and to King’s vision. New members bring to the meetings fresh ideas,different expectations, goals, visions. Perhaps someone knows someone whowould be a great workshop leader; perhaps someone feels strongly about acurrent political event; perhaps someone felt unrepresented in the previousyear and wants to design a workshop that will speak to his or her life. In 1994,we heard “Voices from Sarajevo” and in 1995, “U.S. Immigration Policies.”Three years later, workshops included: “Asian-American Identity Develop-ment,”“Civil Rights for Gay and Lesbian Citizens,” and“Afro-American Jew-ish Relations.” In 2000, the committee introduced an international focus:“Human Rights and Freedom in Tibet,” “U.S. Involvement in Africa,” and“Soldiers for Peace.” In 2007 it was “The Whiteness of Barbie” and “TheLost Boys of Sudan”; in 2008,“The Crisis of Hip-Hop.”The variety of workshops throughout our 20-year history with MLK

Day is a powerful reflection of thoughtful and intentional evolution from asingular focus on black and white relations.The inclusion of different groupsand topics also leaves each committee with questions: Is King himself beingleft behind? Is the civil rights era being forgotten? Have we tipped the bal-ance between history and the present too dramatically? These are the kindsof questions that inspire the committee to remain vigilant and reflective andopen to possibilities.In 2009, the committee moved in a

radical direction. Instead of a keynotespeaker, the day would open with “Sto-ries:Words and Music by Students, Fac-ulty and Staff.” Under the guidance ofCarbonell, this group worked togetheron their pieces, creating a community within a community of powerfulfriendships and trust. In the cavernous gym, there was a new kind of silence, asif more than 1,200 people were holding their breaths.And out of that silencecame the words: the pain of being verbally harassed, the struggles of biracialidentity, the search for a biological mother, the pride of coming out, the strainand joy of being a teacher of color in a predominantly white school.King was


1996 – Chai Ling, internationalspokeswoman for the ChineseDemocracy Movement, president ofChina Dialogue

1997 – Sonia Sanchez, poet, authorand Presidential Fellow atTempleUniversity

1998 – Dr.Vincent Harding, authorand professor of religion and socialtransformation at the Iliff School ofTheology at the University of Denver

1999 – Randall Kennedy, professor oflaw at Harvard Law School

2000 –William Johnston, senior asso-ciate for police and community pro-grams for nonprofit Facing Historyand Ourselves

1994:Yolanda King, eldest childof Martin Luther King Jr. andCoretta Scott King.

1996:Chai Ling, former com-mander-in-chief of theTiananmenSquare student uprising.


not mentioned, at all. And yet, in our collective memory, this assemblyreturns to us as one of the most effective and moving and visionary.

Why Then . . .Why Now?We have come to the 20th anniversary in January 2011. The committeebegan work in the fall, brainstorming,writing ideas up on the board, erasingthem, drawing circles and arrows and exclamation points.We envisioned acandlelight walk through town and campus;we then imagined a frigid nightwith only a few brave, bundled-up students and faculty.What about a can-dlelight vigil, then? Where? What about getting the Art Departmentinvolved, a printmaking project? What about making this a two-day affair,

with films and music and poetry readings onThursday night?What about a special meal in thedining halls? Who has a good workshop idea?Has anyone heard Black Violin? Can we getMichael Fowlin back? September moves to Octo-

ber, then November, and we are getting a little sick of pizza and the sky isdark by the time we get out of H-format. Some nights there is moon toguide us to theAcademy Building where we gather in Math Instructor JoyceKemp’s classroom.We have to make choices around the theme:WhyThen...Why Now?So emails fly between Kemp ’89 (Hon.); P’88,P’90 and Montford.Would

he come back to tell the students why he fasted?And GautamVenkatesan ’97begins to write a speech about his role in moving the town of Exeter and,later, the New Hampshire State Legislature to formally acknowledge MLKDay.And Barbara James and her husband,Art Instructor Emeritus Bud James’74, ’80 (Hon.); P’80, P’81, dig through their memories of activism; themarch to Montgomery,AL; and their work with students of color here.AndThee Smith ’69,who dared to address the student body in 1968 as the “NewBlack,” would love to return to talk with students about how to create a“beloved community.”The day is beginning to take shape.Curtis Chin will bring his documen-

tary film Vincent Who? and talk about Asian-American civil rights. ProfessorMargaret Burnham, from Northeastern University School of Law, is ready todiscuss the legal ramifications of bringing men to trial for crimes committedagainst blacks a half-century ago.The Institute for the Study & Practice ofNonviolence will send its executive director and an ex-gang member whonow walks the streets of Providence, RI, to help angry, poor youths solvetheir conflicts without fists and guns.Or students can choose Our Communi-ty: Exploring the Lives of New Americans, the documentary by Brendan Gillett’09 about his work with immigrants in Manchester, NH.We have in placeSteve Schapiro’s photography exhibit, “Heroes,” in the Lamont Gallery;Fowlin’s one-person show,“You Don’t KnowMe,UntilYou KnowMe”; andaThursday-night celebration of dance and music by students, while jazz fillsthe Agora.The Gospel Choir and Concert Choir will sing during Friday’sassembly, and DanielYu ’11 will play the sax.And I will frame the day with

opening and closing remarks.And then the blizzard.Weather Channel images depict Atlanta,

GA—home ofThee Smith—digging out fromuncommon snow and Channel 5’s storm

watch reports every 15 minutes. We hear thatVenkatesan is stranded in Washington State and he doesn’t want his wordsspoken, his story told.We scramble,we cross our fingers, we arrive at Princi-pal Tom Hassan’s home on Thursday night to find that everyone else hasarrived.Through some phone calls and reflection,Venkatesan agrees to haveDean of Residential Life Russell Weatherspoon ’01, ’03, ’08 (Hon.); P’92,P’95, P’97, P’01 read his piece. So it’s on: the 20th anniversary of MLK Day.


2001 – BaFa’ BaFa’ community aware-ness game and a play performed by acommunity activist troupe

2002 – U.S.Congressman John Lewis,D-GA, recipient of the Martin LutherKing Jr.Non-Violent Peace Prize

2003 – Dr.CornelWest, Class of 1943University Professor of Religion atPrinceton University

2004 – Judy Richardson, associateproducer of “Eyes on the Prize,” adocumentary series about theAfrican-American Civil Rights Movement

2005 – Dr.Michael Eric Dyson,UPenn’sAvalon Professor in the Humanitiesand author of a dozen books on race,religion and popular culture [post-poned due to the weather]

2003:Oscar-nominatedactressAlfreWoodard.

2007:Outkast, Exeter’sall-male stepping andhip-hop dance group.


It may be difficult tomeasure the “success” ofthese special days, carvedout of the relentless paceof Exeter life, one “splashyday” per year, as one student called it.And every four years there isa new student body, negotiating the complexities of diversity inclassrooms, dorms, sports teams, social spaces. As the openingspeaker of our 20th anniversary celebration, I felt it was importantto remind all of us that:

The Academy has not arrived, fully, any more than King’svision has fully arrived. It was not so long ago that one of ourblack students had to fight off the hands of her white dormmates who wanted to play with her hair as though she weresome exotic pet. It was not so long ago that a noose was carved on adormitory door and ‘Chink eyes’were drawn on a whiteboard . . . that‘Ghetto’ was OK as a nickname, and the Heart of Darkness is a canon-ized text, much easier to discuss if you are white than if you live withthe complexity of race every day.

But not to try, to let this opportunity for learning and growth and possi-bility slip away would be to fail the Academy’s mantra:“Knowledge withoutgoodness is dangerous.”And so, each year, for 20 years, we have committedourselves to a curriculum that is grounded in hope. Given the privilege andhonor of speaking last, I sent these words into the cavernous space of theLove Gym, where some students were fidgeting, uncomfortable on the hardwooden bleachers and some were leaning forward to listen:

In his book I May Not Get There With You, Michael Eric Dysonwrites:‘If Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy is to thrive, it will have to beadapted, translated and reinterpreted by a new generation. . . .’ Thephilosopher Maxine Greene believes,‘We have our social imagination:the capacity to invent visions of whatshould be and what might be. . . .’

This morning you have heard somestories about why MLK Day mattered,20 years ago, to individuals and to theAcademy.The workshops you have chosenwill speak to why MLK Day matters now. And the dialogue willcontinue, for a time, until you return to the demands of your home-work and sports and social lives.And that makes sense; our lives areoften defined here by the ringing of bells, the papers to write, theequations to solve and the needs of a friend. Some of you have anactivist spirit; some of you may feel curious about the world, but thestress of Exeter limits your time to explore it; and perhaps some ofyou feel too young, too powerless in the face of so much that needsto be done for strangers who long for justice, health, safety, the sim-plicity of clean water.

But the MLK Day Committee hopes that today will, like an echo,return to you. Perhaps even on a day you least expect it. And evenwith the smallest of gestures you will become an agent of change,adapting and translating King’s legacy, envisioning what should be,what might be, what can be.

Christine Robinson, the B. Rodney Marriott Chair in the Humanities, and Mercy Car-

bonell are instructors in English at the Academy.


2006 – RebeccaWalker, author of thememoir Black,White and Jewish:Autobi-ography of a Shifting Self

2007 – Roland Fryer Jr., associate direc-tor, Du Bois Institute forAfrican andAfrican-American Research, professorof economics at Harvard University

2008 – FrankWu, dean and professor oflaw atWayne State University LawSchool, author of Yellow: Race in Amer-ica Beyond Black and White

2009 – “Stories,” the opening sessionfeaturing words and music by students,faculty and staff

2010 – Dr. Benjamin Carson, neurosur-geon, author of four books and recipi-ent of the Presidential Medal ofFreedom

2011 – “WhyThen? …Why Now?” pro-gram, featuring MLK Day founders andactivists

2011:Thee Smith ’69returns to campus.

2009:TheWestAfrican DrummingEnsemble before the opening session.


here young men in jackets and ties once sat quietly reading periodicals, barefootyoung women in athletic wear move gracefully in time to music.The sprung floor thatabsorbs their leaps and landings sits atop the hardwood that once supported bookshelves,desks and chairs.

The ornate gold clock remains though, hung from the ceiling and frozen at 8 o’clockregardless of how much time really passes. Surrounding it still are the stately Corinthian

columns, watchful sentries before the entryway.The cornerstone of the Davis Library was laid 100 years ago. It was the Academy’s first standalone library,


STheEvolutionofW

Davis Library second-floor reading

room, now a dance studio.

PEAA

RC

HIV

ES

Sp11_buildings 4_4_10:Layout 1 4/5/11 3:02 PM Page 26

SpaceA pictorial timeline of campus transformationsCompiled by Karen Ingraham andTomWharton

CH

ERY

LSE

NT

ER



and it served as such until 1971 when theClass of 1945 Library opened. Since then,the space now known as the Davis Centerhas undergone several incarnations, themost recent being the installation of a1,700-square-foot dance studio—aninterim home for PEA’s dance program—in what was originally the library’s sec-ond-floor reading room.

Such structural transformations are notan uncommon occurrence in the historyof the Academy. One building is repur-posed for something else, or picked upentirely and moved down the street. Thefirst Academy Building, for instance, hasbeen moved three times since the schooldedicated it on May 1, 1783.

What follows are pictorial examples ofPEA’s Yankee ingenuity, where buildingsand grounds have been changed in orderto better serve and adapt to a diverse andgrowing student body.

(Above) The first Academy Building had four recitation rooms, whichheld 56 students. It was moved fromTan Lane to Front Street in 1784after the school had outgrown the space. It was then used as a privatefarmhouse [pictured c. 1900] until the class of 1891 purchased it andmoved it back toTan Lane. After serving as the Faculty Club for a num-ber of years, the house—namedWells Kerr House in 1953—is now a fac-ulty residence. In 1999, it was moved once again, this time to ElliotStreet [pictured] in order to make room for the Phelps Science Center.Go to www.exeter.edu/bulletinextras to watch a video of the 1999

move.LEFT: PEA ARCHIVES; RIGHT: SUSAN GORACZKOWSKI

(Below) After the first building burned to the ground in 1907, the sec-ond Dunbar Hall opened in 1908. A boys’ dormitory for much of its 103-year history, it’s now home to 62 girls. Room décor and furnishingsmark the change from 1909 (left) to today (right).LEFT: WALTER R. MERRYMAN; RIGHT: NICOLE PELLATON


(Above)The physics laboratory (top left), was built in 1887 and its twin, the chemicallaboratory (interior, top right), was completed in 1891.The buildings were razed andreplaced by theThompson Science Building, which was constructed in 1931.

When it first opened, the Thompson Science Building housed six teachers in threelecture rooms and three lab spaces (lower left).By 2001, the Science Department hadoutgrown the space and moved to the new Phelps Science Center.Five years later, theolder building had been remodeled into the Phelps Academy Center, featuring,among other things, a day student study area in the former lab space (lower right).TOP LEFT AND RIGHT, LOWER LEFT: PEA ARCHIVES; RIGHT: GUY CONRAD



The first Exeter-Andover spring track meet took place onJune 12, 1889 (6-3Andover), 10 years after baseball and foot-ball programs had been formally established. By 1902, thecampus could no longer adequately support the growing ath-letics programs.The September 1905 Bulletin states, “Morestudents have often appeared for exercise than could becomfortably accommodated on the playground.”George A. Plimpton [1873] purchased 23 acres between

Front Street and the Exeter River,what had been referred toas “Sunday Campus,” and donated the land to the school in1905, creating the Plimpton Playing Fields. The track hasremained in its original location, but the football field thatonce occupied the center of the track was moved across theriver, to the Plimpton Playing Fields-Beyond, after Plimptondonated more land in 1911.ABOVE: PEA ARCHIVES, RIGHT: AYA PETERS ’11


Some buildings remain unchanged. Take, for instance,Williams House, the Academy’s oldest dormitory.Withpermission from Principal Gideon Soule [1813], John Alli-son [1851] leased the former printing house and organizeda “boarding club” in 1850 where, according to The PhillipsExeter Academy: A Pictorial History, “students receivedroom, board, service, washing, fuel and light . . .” for $2 aweek—half of what private boarding houses charged.Theexperiment prompted the construction of Abbot Hall, thefirst dormitory built on campus, which opened in 1855.Williams House continued as a student residence [pic-tured], and 12 PEA boys call it “home” this year.TOP: PEA ARCHIVES, BOTTOM: SUSAN GORACZKOWSKI

Sp11_buildings 4_13_10:Layout 1 4/13/11 11:23 AM Page 30

Built in 1735 and first owned by an offi-cer in the French and IndianWars, theNathaniel Gilman House, the oldeststructure on campus, was given to theAcademy in 1905.The September Bul-letin from that year notes,“The Gilmanhouse has been remodeled at consider-able expense during the summermonths, and made into an attractiveresidence for a married instructor anddormitory for sixteen students.” In1968, the house became the principal’sresidence, where Principal Richard Day’68 (Hon.); P’68 resided and later Prin-cipal Stephen Kurtz ’44, ’46, ’78, ’87(Hon.); P’77 lived until 1983, when thespace was converted to offices forAlumni/ae Affairs and Development.The Victorian sitting room pictured(above) is now the director of AA&D’soffice (left).ABOVE: PEA ARCHIVES, LEFT: NICOLE PELLATON




Sports

Every few weeks during the winter term, an unusualform of ice hockey is played in Love Gymnasium.There is the standard array of equipment—protective

gear, pucks, nets—and the object of the game remainsunchanged. Instead of traditional ice skates, however, the play-ers use sleds mounted on two skate blades. Instead of a single,full-sized stick, they carry two shorter sticks with metal pickson top.

These changes accommodate the competitive natures ofthe youngsters and adults who arrive at the ice rink in wheel-chairs but are soon propelling themselves across the ice as theychase the puck.

Since 2008, PEA has provided free ice rink access for aregional sled hockey program. Girls Varsity Hockey Coachand Physical Education Instructor Melissa Pacific was instru-mental in bringing the program to Exeter, which hosts aboutfive events each season.

“I had the wonderful opportunity to work with the OhioSled Hockey Association while I was in college,” she says.“Whether it was on the ice with the kids, talking with theparents or setting up events, those days hold a special place inmy heart. I wanted to give our students the same opportunityand experience.”

Members of the girls varsity hockey team, like forward

Sled Hockey Scores at PEAGIRLS VARSITY HOCKEY PLAYERS VOLUNTEERTHEIR TIME AND ENTHUSIASMBy Mike Catano

PHOTOS BY VALENTÍN HERNÁNDEZ ’11

(Above)Yuna Evans

’13 and Aune

Mitchell ’11 with

their sled hockey

gear. (Right) North-

east Passage players

on the ice at PEA.

Sp11_SPO_4_4_11.qxp:Layout 1 4/5/11 3:04 PM Page 32

Emily Finneran ’11, routinely volunteer to assist the young players.Finneran heads an ESSO (Exeter Social Service Organization) clubthat helps out with sled hockey events at Exeter. “[These kids] arevery outgoing and just love to play the sport,” she says.“Even though[they’re] young—some are only 8 or 9 years old—they stay on [the]ice for the full two hours.”

Sled hockey first appeared in Sweden in the 1960s, thanks to for-mer hockey players who wanted to continue playing despite their dis-abilities. Players use the spiked ends of their sticks to push their sledsacross the ice; otherwise, the rules are much the same as for regularhockey. Sled hockey is fully supported by USA Hockey, which pro-vides leagues, competitions and organizational support. Locally,Northeast Passage (NEP)—a service branch of the University of NewHampshire’s Recreation Management and Policy Department—offers aYouth Sled Hockey Program for kids ages 5–18.NEP also hasan adult team that participates in regional and national tournaments.Both NEP groups take advantage of PEA’s rinks during the year.

Tom Carr,NEP assistant director for outreach and athletics, appre-ciates having another local venue for his players.“Our PEA ice timesconsistently have the best attendance, and the facility and staff are justgreat.

“We really enjoy getting the PEA students involved,” he adds.“This partnership is great for both our youngplayers as well as the PEA athletes.”

Sled hockey events at Exeter usually begin with the arrival of several adult players and 20 to 30 youngerplayers who participate in the development league. Describing the PEA hockey team’s volunteer duties,Finneran says,“It’s important that we get there around 15 minutes early so that we can help out as parents getthe kids ready for the ice.” Exeter forward Martha Griffin ’12 adds,“Two of the most important things we dofor the kids are helping them on and off the ice and making the event as fun as possible by playing alongsidethem and cheering them on.”

The PEA players help out wherever they are needed; sometimes that means running passingand shooting drills, or, Finneran says, it may be as simple as reading a book to one of the youngerkids.“Some of the older [players] even kid me about needing to work on my passing,” she says.“They are such nice kids—I love working with them.”

After the drills, the players get to scrimmage in games together.The team experience, accord-ing to Carr, is often a new one for the sled hockey players.“Being part of a team is a huge oppor-tunity: it promotes teamwork, but also communication skills...and helps our players grow asyoung people,” he says.

After watching the sled hockey players and trying the sport themselves, the PEA girls have been surprisedby the challenge.“There were times when they let us all on the ice with the team and by the time practice wasover, it felt like my arms had fallen off,” said Exeter defenseman Naomi Richardson ’12. “Even though I’vebeen playing hockey all my life, it was still very difficult to adjust to being in a sled.There were some kids whowere just barreling down the ice, making sharp turns, and shooting the puck into the top corner of the goal,while I just inched along the boards trying not to topple over. It really makes you appreciate [the] fact that eventhough the kids on the team have disabilities, they’re no different than any other athlete.”

All the hard work and physical exercise certainly pay dividends for the disabled players, according to Carr.“The strength and endurance that we see developing in our young players is really amazing.We can see gainsweek to week, and huge leaps from year to year.”

And for the PEA athletes, their volunteerism produces unexpected dividends as well.“For me, there was ahuge boost of morale from helping out,”Exeter goalieYuna Evans ’13 says.“Watching the kids work so hard—just for fun—really reminded me of why I play and how much I love the sport.”

Forward RemyTabano ’11 adds,“The kids have such great personalities, play with determination, and haveso much energy. Sometimes I think I learn more from them than they do from me.”

Fellow forward Aune Mitchell ’11 says she enjoys seeing the sled hockey players’“hard work pay off whenthey score a goal or are part of a big play. I love seeing the feeling that inspires them—that they can do any-thing—because they really can!”


Learn moreabout NortheastPassage:nepassage.org

Emily Finneran ’11

(left) heads the

ESSO club that

helps to ensure sled

hockey events are

fun for the players.



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(A) Boys BasketballRecord: 9-10Qualified for New EnglandquarterfinalsHead Coach: JayTiltonAssistant Coaches: MatthewHartnett, Jon Pierce ’05MVP: Ryan Kilcullen ’11

(B) Girls BasketballRecord: 6-13Head Coach: Johnny GriffithAssistant Coaches: NatHawkins,Max JohnsonCaptains: Sylvia Okafor ’12,Karalyn Sommers ’11MVP: Sylvia Okafor

(C) Boys Ice HockeyRecord: 12-15-0Head Coach: Dana BarbinAssistant Coaches:A.J. Cosgrove, BillDennehy,Mark EvansCaptains: Nathaniel Morgan’11, Eric Neiley ’11MVPs: Brian Hart ’12,Eric Neiley

(D) Girls Ice HockeyRecord: 10-11-3Head Coach:Melissa PacificAssistant Coaches: LeeYoung ’82, StevenWilsonCaptains: Caroline Jankowski’11, Kristina Krull ’11,Jordan Schildhaus ’11MVP:Yuna Evans ’13

(E) Boys SquashRecord: 12-76th at the New EnglandChampionshipsHead Coach: Fred BrusselCaptain: Kevin Chen ’11MVP: Kevin Chen

(F) Girls SquashRecord: 4-914th at the New EnglandChampionshipsHead Coach: Fred BrusselAssistant Coaches: StefanBergill, Bruce ShangCaptains: Shannon Dominguez’11,Tammara Gary ’11,

So Myung Lee ’11MVP:Tammara Gary

(G) Boys Swimmingand DivingRecord: 4-4 in regularseason dual meets2nd at New England PrepSchool ChampionshipsHead Coach: Don MillsCaptains: Kyle DeLand ’11,Marc Gazda ’11, DuncanMcIntire ’11MVP: Joe Shepley ’14

(H) Girls Swimmingand DivingRecord: 4-2 in regularseason dual meets1st at New England PrepSchool ChampionshipsHead Coach: Jean ChaseFarnumAssistant Coach: Lundy SmithCaptains: Nicole Anderson ’11,Blair Baker ’11MVPs: Nicole Anderson,Blair Baker

(I)WinterTrackRecord: Boys: 4-0-0;Girls: 4-0-0Head Coach: Hilary CoderAssistant Coaches: Kitty Fair,Hobart Hardej, BrandonNewbould, Francis RonanCaptains: Jabari Johnson ’12,Martin Manser ’11,ArjunNukal ’11, Katrina Coogan’11,Ashley Ifeadike ’11,Hannah Najar ’11MVPs: Katrina Coogan,Jabari Johnson

(J)WrestlingRecord: 8-116th in Class ATournament;5th at New EnglandChampionshipsHead Coaches: David Hudson,Ethan ShapiroCaptains: Kyle Gaffney ’11,Dylan Ryan ’11MVPs: Kyle Gaffney,Dylan Ryan

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ALL PHOTOS BY MIKE CATANO EXCEPT (C) BY TED KEATING P’13, AND (G) AND (H) BY ROSS SCHLAIKJER ’11.


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SPRING 2011 The Exeter Bulletin

ThelegendaryH.Hamilton“Hammy”Bissell ’29,Exeter’s first director of scholarships,didn’t have a web browser,but if he could magically return to campus today he’d like-ly be making full use of the Internet to reach out to prospective students. Fostering

great personal relationships has always been the essence of Exeter; how those bonds flourishand evolve has changed radically over the years.

With input from representatives of many PEA classes,Exeter has just launched a new alum-ni/ae website that gives Exonians an improved virtual space to continue connecting with oneanother.Check it out at www.exeter.edu/alumni.

Once there, update your profile photo (if you didn’t upload a picture to the old site, there’s a good chance yourPEAN mug shot is now displayed online).Then search for any Exonian in the alumni/ae directory, post photoalbums, read the latest news and register for events in your area. In addition to sending updates to your class corre-spondent for the Class News & Notes section of the Bulletin, you can share stories in real time and comment onothers using the site’s online class notes feature.

Because of the site’s security improvements, you will need to create a new username and password if you’ve notyet done so. Simply navigate to www.exeter.edu/alumni, click “login” and answer a few questions to have yournew credentials emailed to you.

During the testing period,members of the GeneralAlumni/aeAssociationTechnology Committee joined withother beta-users (class correspondents, class presidents and agents) to kick the e-tires and recommend improve-ments.The benefits of this teamwork show in the final product.

Planned upgrades include new tools for the class agents and a streamlined process for making online gifts to theAnnual Giving Fund.And of course, the directory will improve weekly as we continue to update our profiles withthe latest information.Mike Nagel, associate director of communications for alumni/ae affairs and development, isthe point person on these new adventures; please email him ([email protected]) or me ([email protected]) with your ideas and recommendations.

Dave Underhill ’69 cultivated an interest in communications tools atWPEA and “learned a very small amount about computers using

the time-sharing terminal in the Math Department when that was the only student-accessible computer on campus.” Today he is a

management consultant to a variety of Internet, journalism and broadcasting companies and chairs the General Alumni/ae Association

Technology Committee.

ConnectionsGetTogetherNEW ALUMNI/AE WEBSITE STRENGTHENSTIES AMONG EXONIANSBy Dave Underhill ’69

News & Notes from the Alumni/ae Community

37

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Connections

When the executive producer of “BreakingBad,” one of cable TV’s most criticallyacclaimed shows, is looking for a unique

prop to enhance an episode, who gets the call? StewartLyons ’69: the show’s seasoned line producer.Lyons has been in television and filmmaking for more

than 30 years and recently received his second Emmynomination for his work on “Breaking Bad,” a showabout a high school chemistry teacher who decides to“cook” and sell methamphetamine to provide for hisfamily when he learns he has incurable lung cancer.Lyons is the person who deftly handles all of a show’slogistics, from budgeting and scheduling each episode,hiring the crews, renting the cameras and soundstages,to overseeing the filming process.“You have to come up with inventive ways of doing

things, because no show ever has enough of a budget todo everything the writers and directors would like,”Lyons says. “And since creative people like choicesrather than limits, you need to develop multiple solu-tions to any problem.”Most unique prop?“One of the drug cartel characters

gets beheaded and we needed to see the head movingthrough the desert scrub so that one of our charactersthinks the man is still alive,” explains Lyons. “The solu-tion was to mount the head on a tortoise. But then thewriters wanted the head to explode. I had to coordinate

finding a big enough tortoise (and not anendangered species!), getting a model headmade, special effects explosives plantedinside the skull, stunt men to be blown intothe air after the explosion, and high-speedcameras to record the carnage. All in lessthan a week.And of course, since it was win-ter in New Mexico, the tortoise had to havehis own heated trailer.”Television production means working

with tight budgets, tighter deadlines, pro-duction crews of more than 150 people, and12- to 14-plus-hour days.And Lyons says it’snot a career for those looking for stability:“Ifyou don’t like looking for work, this isn’t theindustry for you. I have worked on 29 differ-ent series and an equal number of televisionpilots and feature films. In a given year, Imight work for two or three different stu-dios, each with its own way of doing things.”Lyons says Exeter prepared him for some

aspects of TV production. “I came in as alower,” he says,“and going to Exeter taught

me how to work under extreme pressure at very highstandards.”The Marblehead, MA, native credits his Eng-lish and drama instructors B. Rodney Marriott andThomas Lee Hinkle for encouraging his interest indrama.As a student, Lyons performed in and worked asa stagehand in theAcademy’s productions of Hamlet andMacbeth.After realizing he had a gift for organizing creative

projects, he majored in film and television production atNYU and later went there for his M.B.A. At the sametime he was in graduate school, he was in the prestigiousDirectors Guild of America Assistant Director TrainingProgram. His first movie production was Three Days ofthe Condor. Some of his best-known gigs were “Every-body Loves Raymond,” “Cagney & Lacey” and “Taxi.”“I’ve just finished my 569th television episode,” Lyonssays. During his career, he has worked as a productionmanager, first assistant director, director and writer.Ultimately, Lyons says he succeeds in the make-

believe world by being able to support a variety ofvisions: “Show business is a mixture of technology, cre-ativity and business.You have to understand all aspects ofthe process as well as the different kinds of people whodo them in order to get the best possible show on thescreen.”

—Famebridge Witherspoon

Actor Bryan

Cranston (left) with

Stewart Lyons ’69,

line producer for

the show“Breaking

Bad.”

EXONIAN PROFILE

STEWART A. LYONS ’ 6 9

Finder ofTortoisesand Exploding Heads



EXONIAN PROFILE

JAMES JOHNSON-P IETT ’97

Healthy Neighborhoods,One Store at aTimeAfew years ago, Romano’s Grocery in

northeast Philadelphia was much likeany small corner market in an inner city.

The shelves were stocked with beef jerky, cans ofsoda and bags of salty, fried snacks.Healthy, freshfood was not an option for its clientele, many ofwhom had little choice but to shop locally.Thatwas before owner Juan Carlos Romano metJames Johnson-Piett ’97.

Where others saw a dusty shop selling lotterytickets, prepackaged goods and beer, Johnson-Piett,principal and CEO of Urbane Development,LLC, envisioned a modern, energy-efficient com-munity crossroads providing fresh produce andhealthy food options to the neighborhood.

Johnson-Piett is one of the leaders behind agrowing national movement to help storeownersincrease the quality of the products they sell andto help introduce high-quality markets in otherunderserved areas. He specializes in neighbor-hood development and revitalization of urbancommercial and retail services.

“It can be a slow march, but good things hap-pen,” Johnson-Piett says of his work.“Over timeRomano’s has grown from sales of $250,000 a year with nohealthy food choices to annual sales of more than $900,000with 15 percent of the merchandise fresh or healthy foods.And with an energy-saving renovation, utility costs havedropped by 30 percent.

“In the past, no one has focused on the small-scalestoreowner in a disadvantaged area:They didn’t fit the bigstore models,” he continues. “But these grocers have theopportunity to form important relationships with theircommunities.” Johnson-Piett describes his role as “partactivist, part advocate and part skill builder.”

“I help grocers reinvent their skill sets,” he explains.“Ifthey know their product, how to cook and store it, they canpass that information on to their consumers. By taking anactive role in the lives of their patrons, they can change thebehavior of shoppers and set in motion a true change in theeating habits not only of one family, but also of a wholeneighborhood.”

A former bank loan officer, Johnson-Piett works withcities, banks and individual business proprietors to createcustomized financing options to encourage healthy foodretail development in communities without such business-es. His company also provides direct training, technicalassistance, and strategic planning to owners like Romano.

Johnson-Piett’s activism has affected his own palate: “Ididn’t start out this way, but I would say I have almost

become a‘foodie.’” He is associated with Slow Food,a global,grass-roots organization with supporters in 150 countrieswho link good food with a commitment to their communi-ty and the environment.

For the past several years, Johnson-Piett, usually accom-panied by one or more of his grocers-in-training, has trav-eled to Slow Food’s international exposition inTurin, Italy.This event,which occurs every two years, draws more than150,000 visitors and small-scale food producers from allover the world.

He is using this venue as a jumping-off point for his nextproject: a video and brochure packaged together that willbe a primer for storeowners. Johnson-Piett has visitedmarkets in Italy and other European countries and filmedmarket owners interacting with their customers. “Thesesellers start by asking the buyer, ‘What do you want tocook?’Then they take it from there,helping the buyer crafta meal,” he explains.

He sees this use of an instructional video as “totalExeter: Show them, don’t tell them was something Ilearned at Exeter, and a concept I employ in all of my com-munications.”

Johnson-Piett “sees food as a means to an end,” and hisaim is to make “food deserts” bloom with fresh produce,involved shopkeepers, and healthy residents.“A great mar-ket is more than an amenity; it is a watering hole,” he says.

—Julie Quinn

Connections



Connections

In August 2010, Alex Manfull ’09 departed from BostonLogan International Airport with a camera, fluency inFrench, three 50-pound boxes, and a determination to

make a difference at a small orphanage in the poor WestAfrican nation of Burkina Faso.WhenAlex was growing up,herFrench tutor, Janine Kolb, had told her stories about a friend,Sister Rita Bujold,who served in an orphanage and clinic inOua-gadougou (wah-ga-doo-goo),Burk-ina Faso, caring for those whompoverty and illness had left in need.After her freshman year at Prince-ton,Alex decided tomake the jour-ney herself.If you are like me, the mention

of Burkina Faso will have you rac-ing to your atlas. I didn’t knowexactly where it was (in the west,landlocked between Ghana andMali). I also didn’t know that annu-al per capita income is $580, andthat only one in four is literate. Icertainly didn’t know that infantmortality claims almost one in 10lives, or that the average personlives to be just 53 years old.The poverty and illnesses that

define the lives of most Burkin-abès were first apparent toAlex atthe open-air medical clinic inMariadougou (mar-ee-ah-doo-goo). Adults and chil-dren were stricken with diseases all but forgotten inthe developed world, like malaria, tuberculosis, andtyphoid. In Dédougou (day-doo-goo), Sister Rita andthe Catholic mission of St. Joseph’s had established aschool for girls, many of whom are orphans.There,Alex wasinitially called nasarra or“great white one” by frightened chil-dren who refused to make eye contact with her.Nonetheless,a group of girls and young women formed a student body,and Alex began to teach what for many of them were likelytheir first formal lessons.Her students were quiet at first, seemingly afraid of Alex

even though she was 10 years younger than some. Convers-ing in French,Alex began by teaching the alphabet,explaininghow each letter has a sound, and then demonstrating howtwo letters together make another sound.After a few days,the students were delighted to remember the alphabet, readsmall words and write their names.Alex described her teach-ing efforts as trial and error, recalling how she had learnedmath at Exeter through a process of figuring things out.Alex was impressed by her students’ progress and struck

by their eagerness to learn. She asked them what theyenjoyed doing with their free time.They pointed at the bat-

tered chalkboard and explained that they wanted to studyand asked her for more homework.After years of studying atExeter and Princeton,Alex hadn’t thought of homework assuch a privilege.After nearly two weeks’ worth of lessons, six hours each

day, Alex informed the women and girls that she would beleaving Burkina Faso to return home.The students did not

understand why that meant she could notcome right back, unaware of the distancebetween their country and the United States.Edith, an 18-year-old woman, wrote a note inher best possible French, stating repeatedly,“I

like you,” and ultimately pleading that she wanted to “comewhere you live.”Alex already knew what she would be doing upon her

return.Armed with a digital camera and recalling the skillsshe had learned in Art Department Chair Steve Lewis’ pho-tography class,Alex had taken more than 600 photos in Burk-ina Faso. She chose 10 for an exhibition and fundraiser at theSeacoast African American Cultural Center in Portsmouth,NH. In one evening, Alex raised $550, roughly the annualearnings of a Burkinabè, which she then sent to a delightedSister Rita.The three heavy boxes thatAlex had initially brought with

her to the African country were filled with toys and clothesdonated by Portsmouth residents. Sister Rita kept the boxesclosed until December 25 so that the orphans could, for thefirst time ever, open presents on Christmas Day.

—Ron Kim, instructor in history

EXONIAN PROFILE

ALEX MANFULL ’ 0 9

The Privilege of Homework

Alex Manfull ’09

(left) ran a toy

drive for Burkinabè

orphans.



Memorial Minutes

Jim Griswold personified multitasking before the word began to buzz.Throughout his 16-year tenure as Academy treasurer, he provided vision,management and financial discipline for the school.And he gave energy and

leadership to numerous causes and institutions in the town of Exeter, where helived for nearly 60 years. These activities were often simultaneous but neverseemed frantic; and, if Jim was pressed, the pressure did not show. Solutions andresults belied the difficulty of the tasks he undertook. His was a life of fulfilledservice.And that life was lengthy, coming to a close in Exeter just after his 101st birth-

day.Born in Ohio in 1909, JamesWells Griswold graduated from Oberlin, where

he met his future wife, Bonnie.They began their 73-year marriage in 1933, andin time welcomed four daughters.After a year at Harvard Business School, Jimworked at a garage for 25 cents an hour, made a profit on some stock, andreturned to finish at Harvard in 1934.Then, traveling across Minnesota and SouthDakota, he sold shoes.In 1939, Jim’s career turned toward educational and nonprofit institutions.

While working at Fenn College (now Cleveland State University), he organizedtraining programs to enhance industrial production duringWorldWar II.After thewar, he became business manager at Park College in Missouri, where he intro-duced TIAA and became a Rotarian and volunteer fireman—interests that hebrought to Exeter in 1950.Exeter’s treasurer in those years had a minuscule administrative staff to handle

accounting,budgets, endowment,buildings and grounds, insurance,development,dining, payroll, personnel, purchasing, trusteeaffairs,The Exeter Inn, and the bookstore. Jim’sability to assume those responsibilities, andPrincipal Bill Saltonstall’s confidence in him,played a vital role in the successful operation ofthe school during that period.His years at the Academy demonstrated

vision, the financial discipline of a constantlybalanced budget, and concern for the peoplearound him. He replaced the Academy’s exist-ing pension system with TIAA-CREF andreassured faculty about the change. He pur-chased equipment and pipes for the Academy’sfirst artificial rink from an ice-making plant inLynn,MA,that was going out of business due to

modern refrigeration coming onto the market.Concerned that lack of real estatemight inhibit future growth,Jim bought property and millions of bricks when thelocal brickyard faced closure—actions that enabled the school to develop andexpand the campus in the late ’60s and ’70s. In his spare time, he taught a coursein business, coached a Club Hockey team,and was always ready to provide finan-cial counsel to the many employees who asked him for advice.

JamesWells Griswold ’31 (Hon.)ACADEMY TREASURER, EMERITUS ( 1 9 0 9 – 2 0 1 0 )

PEAA

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Jim Griswold at the ceremony

that made him an honorary

member of the class of 1931.

His years at theAcademydemonstrated vision, the financialdiscipline of a constantly balanced

budget, and concern for thepeople around him.

Sp11_MMinutes_4_4_11.qxp:Layout 1 4/5/11 3:42 PM Page 102

Jim left theAcademy in 1966 and soon after became manager of development for theMuseum of FineArts in Boston.He raised funds for the museum’s centennial celebrationbefore retiring and returning to full-time residence in Exeter in 1974.But retirement never connoted inactivity.While treasurer of the Academy, Jim served

as chairman of the local chapter of the Red Cross; assisted in establishing the Exeter DaySchool; led a successful effort to secure real estate zoning in town; helped found theRotary Club; and served as fiscal agent for Nelson Rockefeller’s presidential campaign inthe 1964 primary.With formal retirement and presumably more time on his hands, Jim’sactivity for his Oberlin class increased and he researched and published a book onmedieval English barns. He was a trustee, and occasionally chairman, of the Exeter His-torical Society, the Eventide Home, the Exeter Hospital, the Currier Museum,and sever-al official or ad hoc groups concerned with town affairs.He raised funds for many of thesegroups, as well as for the Congregational Church; the relocation of the town’s library; acouple of parks; the modern police, fire and safety complex on Court Street; and numer-ous other important projects.When there was worthy work to be done in Exeter, someone called Jim Griswold.

While he was not solely responsible for reducing the town-gown tension that had pre-vailed when he arrived in 1950, he was often the face of cooperative endeavor. He per-sonified and led a new cordial relationship that was as important and lasting anachievement for the school as was his institutional financial management.He was a very busy and very able Academy treasurer. He was also a treasure for the

community in which he and theAcademy resided.

This Memorial Minute was written by James M.Theisen ’40, ’45, ’52, ’66 (Hon.); P’97, chair; Henry

F. Bedford ’48; ’67 (Hon.); P’72, P’74, P’76; Katharine B. Cornell P’81; Donald C.Dunbar ’45,

’59, ’62 (Hon.); P’71, P’73, P’76; Joseph E. Fellows ’62; David E.Thomas ’62, ’69 (Hon.); P’78,

P’79, P’81; and Jacquelyn H.Thomas ’45, ’62, ’69 (Hon.); P’78, P’79, P’81 and was presented at

faculty meeting on February 16, 2011.


PEA

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Hurricane Katrina. Instead of preparingfor midterms in Ithaca, I handed out dia-pers and patched up roofs in neighbor-hoods the Red Cross and FEMA wouldn’ttouch. And surely my non sibi was at theforefront of my experience living in anold mission on the Bowery of Manhattanand helping amputee veterans and formerinmates while working with Legal Aid tosue the City of NewYork for inadequatehousing policies. Having thought I lostmy worth to the world allowed me toleave a teaching position at anotherboarding school and literally get lost alonein the mountains of northern Vietnamwhere I was taught to mill grain by ayoung boy who couldn’t speak a word ofEnglish and communicated with hisattentive eyes and his good heart.I was standing outside in a rainstorm in

the mountains of Costa Rica on a payphone speaking with another George afew years ago. I was saying goodbye to Mr.Mangan the night before he said goodbyeto us all. I never got to play a match as hisgolf team captain or sit in his classroomfor more than two days, but our closefriendship extended far beyond the golfcourse or the Harkness table. Since leav-ing the Academy, I had stopped in Exeterdozens of times on my trips to Maine justto chat with “The Chief” or leave a noteon his kitchen table.I don’t need to visit the campus or open

the Bulletin anymore to be reminded of themost influential four years of my life. In thefinal weeks alone I experienced the inno-cent bliss of a first kiss, the ecstatic joy ofleading the hockey team to a crushing vic-tory over Andover, and the tumultuousdefeat of utter failure when I left Exeter ona cold night in late March. I sat in deepsnow until the sun rose over the ocean justto make sure it was still there.Of all the valuable lessons I’ve learned

in my short life, the most humbling onehas been my experience leaving Exeter. Imay not have a piece of paper to prove Iwas a student at Phillips Exeter Academy,but I will always be grateful for the oppor-tunity I was given to earn one. I would liketo close with the opening line of a favoritereggae song of mine. “If you live a life oflove, love will follow you. If you live a lifeof grudge, grudge will follow you.” I chosethe former, and I hope you will too.

Finis(continued from page 104)

Jim Griswold

in the 1950s.

Sp11_MMinutes_4_4_11.qxp:Layout 1 4/5/11 3:42 PM Page 103


Finis Origine Pendet

The first time I came to Exeter I was a young boy watching my father coach against EdFrey, who would coach me on that very same field many years later. I remember sitting onthe large concrete stadium between my two grandfathers, still wearing half of my hockey

equipment from a game I had played in earlier that day.My parents met on a rugby pitch at college and both coached me in different sports before I got

to Exeter.When I arrived a pessimistic prep, Phillips Exeter was my sixth school in seven years, butI quickly found a worthy challenge in the company of other warriors flanking the Harkness table.Athletics had been my ticket to Exeter but were merely an afterthought by the time I left the show.

During the spring break of my senior year I had chosen to camp on a remote beach in CostaRica with no access to funds—surviving on fish and coconuts.A few days later, I found myself atmy eldest grandfather’s funeral, speaking on behalf of the 11 younger grandchildren just hoursbefore returning to Exeter. I was only allowed to spend a day and a half of my senior spring oncampus before being required to withdraw. I left the red brick buildings for an old shoe factory onthe Maine coast that had been converted into a community center. I hoped to earn a GED in thethree-room facility,where girls often brought their babies to class and some of the boys had to keeptrack of a busy court schedule. My acceptance to college had been rescinded, and I eventually wentto work at an uncle’s gelateria in Italy not knowing if I would ever return to academia.

The night before I graduated from Cornell University, I was sitting on a boat in the PortsmouthHarbor with most of my Exeter class celebrating our fifth reunion. We had nominated RussellWeatherspoon to be our faculty representative. My former psychology and business ethics instruc-tor grabbed the microphone and greeted the class of 2001.

“In my 20 years at Exeter, you guys were the worst,” he said, as laughter erupted throughout theboat.“But of all the people here tonight, I’m happiest to see those that never made it.Thanks forcoming, Ryan.”

I nearly fell over in my chair. I was sitting next to Theron Cook II ’01 who was on the disci-pline committee that had unanimously voted me out. Five years earlier, he had run into my fatherand I walking up the marble steps in the Academy Building and burst into tears.

There were a lot of tears that year, but Theron’s were for me.Ten years ago, the study where Ihad earned multiple Latin prizes conquering Caesar was seemingly transformed into the ancientColosseum, where I thought my future had been devoured by an unchained lion rampant.

I hustled back to my dormitory and changed out of my jacket and tie for the last time. I put onmy favorite Bob Marley tie-dyed T-shirt and walked downstairs to hear the decision from the fac-ulty members on the committee.Mr.Weatherspoon stood against the wall behind my adviser’s din-ing room table and broke the silence after I sat down.

“That is one serious T-shirt,” he announced in his strong, authoritative voice.After listening to a dean I had never spoken to tell me how the Academy would miss me, I even-

tually broke down in front of Mr.Weatherspoon on the staircase of Browning House. I was flushedwith rage and confusion, but he calmed me with his large, penetrating eyes and his huge, articulat-ing hands.

“Ryan, in a few years you will be sitting up on that hill in Ithaca and laughing about this,” hesaid.

I couldn’t hear him then, but he was right.George Plimpton ’44 once wrote that his expulsion from Exeter was a driving force in his life

to prove to the world that he was still good. Perhaps that’s what drew me to cut classes at Cornelland live in a tent in a former Black Panther’s backyard weeks after

ForThoseWho Never Made ItBy Ryan Weggler ’01

FRED

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(continued on page 103)

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The Exeter Bulletin, Spring 2011

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Transcript of The Exeter Bulletin, Spring 2011