The Exeter Bulletin, winter 2013

WINTER 2013The E

xeter Bulletin

Winter 2013 The New Old Face of Phillips Hall

R E U N I O N S 2 0 1 3REUNION DATE YEAR CLASS

May 3–5, 2013 30th 198325th 198820th 199315th 1998

May 10–12, 2013 60th 1953*55th 195835th 1978

* Starts May 9 10th 2003

May 17–19, 2013 50th 1963*45th 196840th 1973

* Starts May 16 5th 2008

May 21–23, 2013 70th 194365th 1948Super Senior 1930-52

Welcome Back to Exeter� Reconnect with old friends

� Tour your family around old haunts

� Relive the Harkness experience

� Visit with your favorite teachers

� See changes on campus

For more information visit your online classpage: www.exeter.edu/alumni or call theAlumni/ae and Parent Relations Office at 800-828-4324 ext. 3264.

EXETERREUNIONSCONNECT THE PAST, THE PRESENT AND THE POSSIBLE.

1WINTER 2013 The Exeter Bulletin

Around the Table

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

Director of CommunicationsJulie Quinn

EditorKaren Ingraham

Staff WritersMike Catano, Alice Gray, Nicole Pellaton, Famebridge Witherspoon

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

Wole C. Coaxum ’88, Flobelle Burden Davis ’87, Marc C. de La Bruyè�re ’77, Walter C. Donovan ’81, John A. Downer ’75,Mark A. Edwards ’78, Jonathan W. Galassi ’67,Thomas E. Hassan ’56, ’66, ’70, ’06 (Hon.);P’11, Jennifer P. Holleran ’86, David R.Horn ’85, Alan R. Jones ’72, William K.Rawson ’71, Dr. Nina D. Russell ’82,Robert S. Silberman ’76, J. Douglas Smith ’83,Della Spring ’79, Morgan C. Sze ’83, andRemy White Trafelet ’88

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

Copyright 2013 by the Trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy. ISSN-0195-0207

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

Contents

18 | ‘A BUILDING WITHOUT A COUNTERPART’

Modernizing Phillips Hall with the past in mind

By Karen Ingraham

26 | NO BOUNDARIESSix alumnae entrepreneurs share their startup stories By Craig Morgan ’84

4 Around the Table: Trustee roundup, decoding ancient papyri, campus lifeat a glance, East-West classroom collaboration, andmore.

10 Table Talk with Eimer Page, PEA’s director of global initiatives

15 Exoniana: Winter reminiscences

16 Exonians in Review: In One Person by John Irving ’61 Reviewed by Mary Rindfleisch ’73

32 Sports: Game Strategy Gets High-Tech by Mike CatanoPlus, PEA training videos and fall sports roundup.

36 Connections: News and Notes from the Alumni/aeCommunity

38 Profiles: Thomas Reckford ’60, Robin (Kelley) Kelson ’77 and Sarah Milkovich ’96

102 Memorial Minute: Alan Vrooman, emeritus chair of the Department of English

104 Finis Origine Pendet: Musings in NaturePoems by Sarah Chisholm ’14 and Grace Yin ’15

26

V O L U M E C V I I I , N O. 2 W I N T E R 2 0 1 3

Departments

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

COVER PHOTO BY WARREN PATTERSON

10

Visit Exeter on the web at www.exeter.edu.Email us at [email protected].

18

Showtime! Student dancers prepare for opening night during a dressrehearsal for PEA's annual fall dance concert.

—Photos by Cheryl Senter

The Exeter Bulletin WINTER 20132

WINTER 2013 The Exeter Bulletin

The View from Here

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4 The Exeter Bulletin WINTER 2013

Just prior to the start of this school year, I had the chance to tour the renovated Phillips Hall.Upon entering the building’s lobby, my eyes were drawn to five ornately carved medallionslocated above the molding: the Great Seal of the United States, the state of New Hampshire’s

seal, the Phillips family’s seal, the Academy’s seal, and the town of Exeter, England’s seal. When Iremarked on these medallions and how attractive they were, I was told that they were not new butin fact had been in place since the building opened in 1932. Refurbished and relit, the seals nowstand out, adding depth and character to the entry of that venerable classroom building.

A feature story in this issue of The Exeter Bulletin (page 18) chronicles the project. It also high-lights the impeccable attention given by the architects and the Academy’s Facilities Managementteam not only to the main purpose of the building as a place for teaching and learning, but also

to its iconic place on this campus. Even with its now modern amenities, such as wireless

Internet access and a heating-and-cooling system drivenby a series of geothermal wells buried under the AcademyBuilding lawn, Phillips Hall maintains the patina of a well-loved and well-used center of academic endeavor.

The building’s new and refurbished Harkness tablesare symbolic of this combination of freshness and tradi-tion. It might seem that the modern additions form acontrast with our traditional teaching method. In fact,while much has changed behind the walls and ceilings,the heart of each classroom remains the table and the dis-cussions that go on around it.

I can remember powerful moments during my timeteaching Junior Studies in Phillips Hall. The course, oncerequired of preps and now reflected in English 110, intro-duced new students to discussion strategies, writing skillsand reading practices that would prepare them forinvolvement in Harkness learning. Many quiet youngsters

found their voices in that room and some others learned to modulate their eager opinions. I fond-ly recall one exercise where I gave each student five poker chips, and the contributor used onechip each time he or she wanted to enter a discussion. It quickly became evident which budding“Harkness warriors” had rapidly run out of chips and which reticent participants had to becomemore active in the discussion in order to cash out.

The result was a class that valued inclusive discussions. That level of appreciation will notdiminish as students today and in the future employ new technologies and ways of communicat-ing to augment and amplify their time at the table. Exeter will not lose the power of Harkness dis-cussion, which has been a vital part of what has gone on in Phillips Hall for more than 80 years.The opportunities for students to experience the tradition of work, study and learning in thatbuilding have been enhanced by this renovation in much the same way the project revived andreinvigorated the seals in the foyer of Phillips Hall, and we should all take notice.

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A Revival of TraditionBy Principal Thomas E. Hassan ’56, ’66, ’70, ’06 (Hon.); P’11

Around theTableWhat’s new and notable at the Academy

Principal Hassan sits

in on an English class

in Phillips Hall.


The Trustees of the Academy met on campus Wednesday,October 24, through Friday, October 26. Four trustees havejust begun their tenure: Wole Coaxum ’88, Mark Edwards

’78; P’12, P’14, Della Spring ’79; P’06, P’09, P’11 and Morgan Sze’83. They were introduced to the work of the Trustees during thistime. In addition, Trustee Walter Donovan ’81 participated in the “ADay in the Life” program by shadowing History Instructor MichaelGolay the previous week.The Trustees began their official meetings Thursday morning

with a report from Principal Tom Hassan. He provided them withan update on the Academy’s three imperatives from “Exeter’sImmediate Priorities”—Intellectual Ambition, Goodness andGlobal Exploration—as well as recent news of the school in gener-al. The Trustees were deeply saddened to learn of the death ofGeorge Albert Wentworth Professor of Mathematics and Instructorin Mathematics Rick Parris ’95, ’97 (Hon.); P’97, P’01 andobserved a moment of silence in honor of him and the innumer-able contributions he made to our school for more than threedecades. That morning, the Trustees joined other members of thecommunity in Phillips Church to hear a moving meditation deliv-ered by their colleague, Jonathan Galassi ’67. Trustee Alan Jones ’72will deliver the meditation when the group is back on campus fortheir winter meeting in January.The remainder of Thursday morning was devoted to a report

and discussion of the work of the Office of Institutional Advance-ment. Trustee David Horn ’85 described the revamped and highlysuccessful Exeter Leadership Weekend, which took place on cam-pus in September. Not only was there an expansion of the event toinclude parents for the first time, but also the entire group heard in-depth reports about the Academy today, its finances, facilities andoverall direction. Horn reported that the attendees at this two-dayprogram greatly appreciated the candor and transparency of thepresentations, and, as always, the annual gathering with members of

the Academy’s senior class over dinner Friday evening met withenthusiastic reviews.Spring reported on the results of the Reunion Task Force, a

committee she chaired. That group surveyed alumni/ae, faculty andstaff to determine if the current reunion structure, which includesreunions spread across weekends in the spring term when school isin session, should continue. The overwhelming response called for acontinuation of the current practice with some minor modifica-tions to logistics and with an eye toward containing costs for someattendees. Director of Institutional Advancement Ted Probert P’12and Trustee Chair of the Institutional Advancement CommitteeBill Rawson ’71; P’08 provided updates about the change in nameand direction of the Annual Giving Fund, now recast as The ExeterFund, as well as examined the overall landscape of raising funds instill uncertain economic times.During the various lunch sessions on Thursday, trustees partici-

pated in a discussion of our financial audit with the outside firmPricewaterhouseCoopers, a review of the Trustees’ self-assessmentsabout the work of the group, and a conversation with staff and fac-ulty about the Goodness imperative. In fact, the Trustees had sever-al opportunities to talk with staff, faculty and students, which theygreatly appreciated. It was clear in the discussions around goodnessat the two open lunches for adults and a meeting with students thatour community enjoys chances to meet one another. It is also evi-dent, however, that the fast and full pace of life here hinders thosemoments. Hassan underscored his pledge to make such opportuni-ties for interaction possible, and this commitment was illustrated bythe Saturday School classes that several trustees and the Academycommunity participated in.Following lunch on Thursday, the Trustees took a tour of the

renovated Phillips Hall, which was built in the 1930s with fundsfrom the Harkness gift. All came away extremely impressed withthe work that had been done over

Trustee Roundup

(continued on page 101)

Noted Jazz Musicians on CampusGilbert Concert Series hosts Butch Thompson’s Big Three

American jazz pianist and clarinetist Butch Thompson and his BigThree opened this year’s Gilbert Concert Series in November, withNew Orleans trumpeter Duke Heitger and banjo virtuoso andvocalist Jimmy Mazzy. The group’s evening concert in PhillipsChurch included selections of ragtime, Dixieland and what theycalled “lowdown blues.” During their two-day residency, Thompsonled a musical clinic on the roots of jazz, and the group collaboratedwith the PEA Faculty Jazz Ensemble, illustrating early and periodjazz band technique and style.

With a storied musical career of more than 40 years, Thompsonis regarded internationally as a master performer of traditionaljazz and ragtime music. He is perhaps best known for his 12-yearterm as house pianist on National Public Radio’s “A Prairie HomeCompanion,” with host Garrison Keillor.

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September 21: Adam LiptakThe New York Times Supreme Court correspondent

“Who’s on the Supreme Court? Why does it matter?” Withthese questions, Adam Liptak, The New York Times SupremeCourt correspondent, launched his fast-paced 40-minute assem-bly talk.

Liptak set the context for Exonians by discussing how thecurrent court differs from previous courts. First in its gender, eth-

nic and religious diversity. Second inits homogeneity: notably no mem-bers have run for elected office, andall have attended Harvard or Yale, hepointed out.

To round out assembly, Liptakfocused on the Supreme Court caseFisher v. Texas, which addresses affir-mative action in the admissions policyat the University of Texas. Describing

it as a “blockbuster,” Liptak advised Exonians to watch as the caseunfolds, and predicted that the outcome of Fisher v. Texas wouldhave an impact on college admissions across the country.

During class, assembly and lunch with students, Liptak wel-comed questions. Topics covered recent Supreme Court deci-sions (Citizens United, Affordable Health Care Act), FirstAmendment rights, affirmative action, and what it’s like to be ajournalist.

Liptak’s daughter Katie ’15 proudly introduced him at assembly,and his wife Dr. Jennifer Bitman ’80 accompanied him to campus.

September 25: Alexandra MarshallAuthor and journalist

Author, journalist, film critic and educator Alexandra Marshallspoke to students about her personal journey as a new facultywife and teacher in 1969 and on coming to terms with life’sunexpected circumstances.

Forty-three years ago, Marshall arrived on campus with herformer husband, the late TimothyBuxton, a PEA religion instructor.During just their second year at theAcademy, she found herself widowedwhen Buxton died suddenly duringa foreign teaching assignment.

Marshall, now married to writerJames Carroll, said she hoped hervisit and address would help heraudience identify with her experi-

ences and learn more about Buxton, who Principal Richard Daydescribed at the time as a young instructor showing “tremendouspromise” and achieving “an incalculable amount of good.”

Summing up her visit graciously, Marshall said, “It is both

because of my losses and in spite of them that I have been mostfortunate in my life. . . . I’m also very thankful, today, for Exeter andits enduring friendship, and for you and your most kind attention.”

September 28: Brandon Williams ’92NBA senior director of basketball operations

Brandon Williams, a member of the 1998-99 NBA champi-onship-winning San Antonio Spurs, spoke to students about thecollateral impact of leadership, how one person can effect change

in another.Williams came to Exeter in 1989

from a Louisiana town of 450 peo-ple. An “A” student and skilled bas-ketball player back home, he was“stunned” by Exeter’s rigor. “I neverthought I’d struggle keeping up aca-demically and athletically,” he says.“The question I was facing was, ‘DoI have what it takes?’ And what over-

whelmed me was the thought that I did not.”Williams reached an emotional low point during an assembly

that year and left early. Belinda Tate ’90, a senior, followed him.“Belinda displayed incredible leadership qualities,” he says. “Shewas observant, having recognized over several weeks that myoptimism had gone. She provided me direction by pointing outthe value of my dorm head, who could mentor and advise me.She directed me to classmate study groups that could bridge thegap in my academic understanding. And most importantly, sheoffered encouragement.”

Williams closed by saying, “A leader does not wait for an invi-tation. You have the ability to impact another individual: to ignitethe torch of passion and determination.”

Watch excerpts from the speech at www.exeter.edu/bulletinextras.

October 5: Michael Crowley ’90Time magazine’s senior correspondent and deputy Washington

bureau chief

“It’s a funny thing about being back in Exeter during a presi-dential campaign,” Michael Crow-ley told students, “because when Iwas a student here, I did not getaround the state of New Hampshirevery much.” That changed whenCrowley was at Yale and began hispolitical reporting career in earnest.He ticked off the “amazing cast ofcharacters,” or candidates, he’s cov-ered in New Hampshire since then,

giving him access to the state’s “different nooks and crannies.”As senior correspondent for Time magazine, Crowley wrote

extensively about the 2012 presidential election, focusing largely


Around the Table

In the Assembly Hall A SAMPLING OF SPEAKERS WHO CAME TO CAMPUS

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Around the Table

on Mitt Romney’s campaign. Regularly tapped by media outletslike CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, Crowley spent most of theassembly providing students with similar expert political analysesand opinion just one month before Election Day.

He kicked off the conversation by asking, “How many peoplethought that Barack Obama won that [first] debate?” After hewas met with silence, he said, “OK, well that says it all,” and thenbroke down why he thought Romney “won it pretty big,” alongwith why that candidate was having a hard time overtaking Pres-ident Obama in the polls.

Prior to Time, Crowley was a senior editor at The NewRepublic. He was also a Boston Globe reporter, and he has writtenfor The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, and otherpublications. After assembly, Crowley met with students in theLatin Study.

November 2: Rep. Patricia S. “Pat” SchroederFormer congresswoman of Colorado

“Let me start by saying I’m Pat Schroeder and I approve thismessage,” said this year’s Bragdon Fellow by way of introduction.Schroeder’s assembly talk, five days before Election Day, touchedon her 24-year history as congresswoman for Colorado.

She included anecdotes about being the second-youngestfemale congresswoman ever elected,one of only 14 women in the Houseof Representatives at the time shejoined Congress in 1973, and awoman twice arrested for imperson-ating a congressman because of hergender.

“I’ve always noticed that there aretwo kinds of people,” Schroeder saidin closing, before attending several

classes. The “wringers” see the world’s problems, wring theirhands and say, “It’s terrible!” And the “rollers” roll up theirsleeves and respond, “We have to do something about this!”

“I would hope that all of you are going to be rollers,” Schroed-er said to Exonians. “ There are a lot of challenges out there. Butthey’re phenomenally fun to do.…I can’t encourage you enoughto get involved.”

November 13: Dr. Sylvia EarleOceanographer, undersea explorer

Called “Her Deepness” by The New Yorker, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Nation-al Geographic’s Explorer-in-Residence, spent a full day on campusdelivering the assembly talk, visiting biology classes, and giving anevening lecture to the PEA community and the public.

Former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration, Earle began the assembly with a clearmessage: “We have arrived on the planet, all of us, at maybe themost important time in history, because for the first time, weknow things that our predecessors could not: Maybe mostimportantly of all that there are limits to what we can do to thislittle blue and white speck in the universe.”

Earle, a pioneer oceanic explorerwho has logged more than 6,000hours underwater and has led morethan 50 expeditions around theworld, spoke of how technology inrecent years has enabled us “to seethe way the world was long beforewe arrived.” But these answers onlybeget more questions. Earle added,

“The greatest era of exploration ever has really just begun.We’ve opened enough doors to realize how much more there isto discover.”

With the aid of slides and short videos, Earle showcased for stu-dents marine jewels, like the Galapagos Islands, along with some ofthe greatest threats to marine life, including climate change.

Watch a 90-second video of Dr. Earle talking about the “blue heart”of the planet at www.exeter.edu/bulletinextras.

December 4: Mark Ethridge ’67 and Curt Hahn ’67Filmmakers of the motion picture Deadline

Mark Ethridge and Curt Hahn, both class of ’67, shared with stu-dents how their collaboration on the film Deadline began withtheir PEA class reunion in 2007.

In 2006, Ethridge had published a novel, Grievances, based onhis experience covering an unsolvedshooting in rural South Carolina.He gave a talk about the book dur-ing his 40th reunion, where Hahnapproached him.

“Curt told me, ‘That’s a greatstory. I have a movie company. I’d liketo produce that,’ ” Ethridge said.

Hahn, who had to withdraw fromthe Academy his senior year, told stu-

dents, “Exeter is a much friendlier place now,” explaining thatpersonal feelings were never discussed when he was a student. Hesaid his immaturity and inability to cope with stress led to hisexpulsion for alcohol use.

Hahn ultimately attended the California Institute of theArts, where he launched his filmmaking career. “I wanted tomake movies about personal emotions,” said Hahn. “We some-times think about our minds so much that we forget how wereally feel.”

The two alums formed a partnership after their reunion to writethe screenplay and secure funding for Deadline. Five years later, in2012, Deadline enjoyed successful premieres in cities across the U.S.

The classmates concluded their assembly with advice for stu-dents.

“Find someone you care about [at Exeter] and ask them ifthey’re OK,” said Hahn. “Ask them, ‘How are you doing? How’syour spirit?’ Because it’s not just about the mind; it’s about yourspirit, too.”

“My No. 1 takeaway: attend your Exeter reunions,” saidEthridge. “Good things happen when you do.”

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Around the Table

Faculty WirePEA WELCOMES NEW LAMONT GALLERY DIRECTOR

Lauren O’Neal has been appointed thenew director of the Lamont Gallery. Shebrings more than 15 years of artistic, aca-

demic, management and nonprofit experience tothe position. She has served on the faculties ofseveral Massachusetts schools, including the BostonUniversity Graduate Arts Administration Program,the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, the Mas-sachusetts College of Art and Design and The ArtInstitute of Boston at Lesley University.

As an instructor, O’Neal taught courses in artsmanagement, fine and performing arts, and artsand the community. She designed and facilitated

community art programs for youths, focusing on integrated museum collections, two- and three-dimen-sional media and multimedia techniques. As a seasoned curator and exhibited artist, O’Neal says she’slooking forward to facilitating stronger bonds between the PEA community, the local New HampshireSeacoast region and the gallery.

“For the [Lamont] Gallery, I am particularly interested in encouraging the PEA community to see thegallery as an aesthetic, social and civic space that can generate numerous opportunities for reflection anddialogue. . . . I would love to hear input from students, faculty and staff in terms of how the gallery canbe integrated into the campus and region,” she says.

O’Neal succeeds Karen Burgess Smith, who served as the gallery’s director since 2003.

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PEA Faculty and Staff Share Their ArtLamont Gallery exhibit features 57 employee pieces

In November, the Academy community, as well as the greater public, hadan opportunity to discover the depth of creative talent on campus whenPEA’s Lamont Gallery opened “Hidden Treasures 3: Works by PhillipsExeter Academy’s Faculty and Staff.” The exhibit, which ran through mid-December, featured a variety of artistic works from 57 Academy employ-ees and explored diverse media including photography, painting, ceramics,drawing, quilting, flower arranging, collage, woodworking, costume design,architectural models, embroidery, sculpture, stained glass, digital and film

works, and jewelry. Visit www.exeter.

edu/bulletinextras towatch a video of threeexhibit artists talkingabout their creativeapproach and to view aslideshow with moreemployee artwork.

(Top) ScienceInstructor Kathleen Curwen, A Cure for the Blues,Stained Glass, 2012

(Bottom) Assistantto the AcademyLibrarian TadNishimura, Kumihimo, Jewelry–Beaded Cord, 2012

(Right) SummerSchool ProgramCoordinator StaceyDurand, Powerlines:Exeter to Newbury-port, Acrylic, Collage andGraphite on Panel, 2012

Lauren O’Neal stands

between (left) Woman of

Cups, an oil painting by

Associate Dean of Faculty

Rosanna Salcedo and

(right) Left Over Bag, fiber

art by IT Support Servic-

es Administrator Donna

Archambault.


Around the Table

Launching with a reference toThe Righteous Brothers andending with a poem about

emotional estrangement from herfather, U.S. Poet Laureate and PoetLaureate of Mississippi NatashaTrethewey read with dramatic verveto an almost overflowing crowd inExeter’s Assembly Hall. Born of ablack mother and white father, theauthor immersed listeners in herpoems—which largely focused onthemes of race, identity and family—for more than an hour. English classes read works by

Trethewey before her visit, includingDomestic Work and Beyond Katrina: AMeditation on the Mississippi GulfCoast. The day after her public reading,

Trethewey, Exeter’s first Lamont poetfor 2012-13, met with the entireprep class in the Class of 1945 Library and joined a senior class taught by Woodbridge Odlin Professor and Eng-lish Instructor Becky Moore P’03, P’05, P’08. “Trethewey talked to the students about a number of topics, from the inspiration of her latest collection Thrall

to [answering] the students’ questions about living as a mixed-race person in the U.S.,” says Moore, whose classread Beyond Katrina. “Trethewey spoke to the students both as a scholar, about her literary choices and mod-els, as well as a sister when she described her brother’s struggles to help his community rebuild in the wake ofthe hurricane’s devastation.” “The opportunity to speak with an author after reading and analyzing her work in class is a unique expe-

rience, and by interacting with her in person we were able to get even more out of the material,” says HaleyBaker ’13. “I was struck by her poem ‘Flounder.’ The imagery of the fish flopping back and forth between blackand white, being forced to choose a side when taken out of its natural environment, really paralleled the themeof struggling with a multicultural identity, which she explored in many of her poems.”Zachary Barnett ’13, a Louisiana native, enjoyed Trethewey’s visit to his English class. “It was interesting to

hear other students’ similar stories about having two parents of different races and the rough times that theyencountered in their early childhood,” he says. “I really enjoyed ‘Providence.’ She discusses the damage causedby hurricanes and how people are attached to their homes just as homes were once attached to their founda-tions before being destroyed.”Trethewey serves as Emory University’s Robert W. Woodruff Professor of English and Creative Writing.

This year, she was named as both the 19th U.S. Poet Laureate (2012–13) and the Poet Laureate of Mississippi(2012–16)—the first person to serve simultaneously in these posts. She is the author of four poetry collections,including Domestic Work (2000), winner of the inaugural Cave Canem Poetry Prize for the best first book byan African-American poet and Native Guard (2007), awarded a Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2007. In 2012,Trethewey released Beyond Katrina, a nonfiction piece on the meaning of Hurricane Katrina.

U.S. Poet Laureate NatashaTrethewey Visits Exeter

Author Natasha

Trethewey speaks

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class students about

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larly in relation to

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English Instructor Eimer Page was appointed director ofExeter’s global initiatives, a new position, as part of Prin-cipal Tom Hassan’s call for expanded global exploration

by the entire Exeter community. Through that imperative,Hassan is seeking to further opportunities for stu-dents and faculty to engage with peers and enjoyexperiences beyond the school campus—there-by facilitating knowledge sharing onan international scale. “Global initiatives afford our stu-

dents and faculty the opportunity tolearn, build connections and becomeengaged in a world that transcendsnational borders,” says Page. Suchinitiatives must be part of the back-bone of what sustains Exeter as aschool of excellence, she says, adding,“We want to give our students andfaculty rich opportunities to infuseour curriculum with fresh per-spectives and experiences.”Page, a native of Newry,

Northern Ireland, with a Ph.D.from Trinity College Dublin and aonetime Fulbright Scholar at Har-vard, stepped into the role of globalinitiatives director last August. Shewas already teaching English to prepsand Visions of Paradise? Utopias andDystopias in Literature to seniors, aswell as overseeing the Exeter-Ballyto-bin/Callan Program, which enablesqualified seniors to live and work in Irelandalongside people with special needs. Page says itwas music, however, that first brought her to campus eight yearsago, and music that has most fully shaped her life, from very earlychildhood on.To the outside world, Northern Ireland in the 1970s and ’80s

might have seemed a difficult place to grow up, but in fact lifewasn’t all about the Troubles. In those days, every 7-year-oldchild was given an ear test to assess his or her music skills. Themore promising among them would then receive complimenta-ry instruments (selected for them), lessons and membership incommunity orchestras. Page was offered a viola (“Perhapsbecause of my broad handspan?” she laughs). Taking part in youth ensembles gave Page the opportunity to

travel, as well as to meet students from different religious back-

grounds in a country where that distinction was highlighted daily.It also helped her grasp the importance of diversity. Further, shesays she “came to realize that education and the chance to con-nect around a common interest are the keys to understanding.”

And it was music that brought her to the UnitedStates in 2004, when her husband, John—whomshe’d met when both were members of the North-

ern Ireland Symphony—wasappointed assistant conduc-tor for the Boston Philhar-monic. Page, who was thenteaching at The PortsmouthGrammar School in England,found Exeter on the recom-mendation of several profes-sional mentors. She and Johnand their two sons, Oscair, 8,and Cormac, 3, currently livein Dunbar Hall, where she’sdorm head. Even as Hurri-cane Sandy was barrelingtoward the East Coast inOctober, Page was coordi-nating an acoustic music ses-sion to keep the 60 girls wholive there occupied whilethey rode out the storm.

Page returns with her family to North-ern Ireland every summer, and she says that her

childhood there definitely affected her perception ofeducation. Though housing, sports and schools were

segregated along religious and political lines, “real effortswere made in school to expose students to the other side and

to help us understand the history of the issues,” she says, adding,“Education was emphasized as the key to breaking the deadlock.”Today, in her new role, Page is assessing where Exeter is cur-

rently reaching others outside the campus boundaries, and wherethere might be gaps. Happily, she hasn’t found many—indeed,Exeter’s influence extends around the globe, through four dis-tinct program areas, or “strands.”The first, and perhaps most uniquely Exonian, is Harkness

outreach, through which Exeter’s instructors share with publicschool teachers the Harkness approach, as well as specific aspectsof the school’s curriculum. “We have very robust Harkness outreach programs that have

been around for a long time,” says Page, adding that “so much atExeter comes from the ground up—it comes from faculty devel-


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Weaving the World Together TABLE TALK WITH E IMER PAGEBy Sarah Zobel


opment and interest, rather than beingimposed top-down. The Harkness outreachfollows that model. It’s teachers who’ve beeninterested in offering these opportunities forteachers around the world.”

It starts in Exeter’s own backyard, in theRaymond and Newmarket, NH, schools—Raymond’s Iber Holmes Gove MiddleSchool, proud recipient of two Harknesstables from PEA last year, was named thestate’s 2011 “Middle School of Excel-lence”—and extends to teachers from aroundthe country through the Exeter HumanitiesInstitute, The Biology Institute at Exeter, theRex A. McGuinn Conference on Shake-speare, The Exeter Astronomy Conferenceand more. Some 2,500 public school teachersalone have been trained in Exeter’s problem-solving math curriculum through the ExeterMathematics Institute, which is brought toschools nationwide.

The second strand is faculty professionaldevelopment, which is often underwrittenthrough support from alumni/ae donors.Faculty members have traveled in teams toIreland, Japan and Korea, Morocco andGhana, and China. In March, one group willspend spring break in Israel, while anotherwill visit India (on the latter trip, PEA stu-dents chosen for previous exposure to Indiathrough coursework “are the experts, whichis really exciting,” says Page). The groups arecomposed of 10 to 12 faculty members froma variety of disciplines; a local partner organ-izes a study tour that is broad enough to berelevant to all, looking at issues in education,as well as the country’s culture, history, poli-tics and environment.

In her third year on campus, Page led 18English Department faculty members to Ire-land. She says she might do it again, but she’dmake it cocurricular, bringing science facul-ty, for instance, who would appreciate Trini-ty’s renowned Science Department.

Traveling faculty members take the Hark-ness table with them—figuratively, anyway.Explains Page, they use the experiences theyhave during the day to “process and talk in theway that we do in the classrooms, to have con-versations about what people experience, whatthey’re questioning, what they’re impressed byand what they’re taking away from this, andhow their thinking is being stretched by beingthere.” The conver-

Advocating for the IncarceratedQ-and-A with Dr. Lannette Linthicum ’75

In October, the John Phillips Award was presented to Dr.

Lannette Linthicum ’75, health services director of the Texas

Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). During her 26 years

with TDCJ, the country’s largest state correctional facility,

Linthicum’s unit has become a national model for correc-

tional medicine. She leads 4,000 medical and administrative

personnel who facilitate complete health care services to

160,000 offenders in 112 Texas prisons. With more than 30

percent of inmates chronically ill, Linthicum routinely faces complex health care

issues within a prison population she equates to “the size of a small city.”

Q: What do you find most meaningful about the work you do? What are your biggest

hurdles?

A: The ability to impact people’s lives positively . . . the offenders and staff, that’s the

best part. In health care, we talk about public safety, that the role of corrections is to

provide public safety, to keep people incarcerated. But correctional medicine plays a

big role in public safety as well, because we have very high-risk populations—they’ve

been intravenous drug users; they haven’t had much preventive health care. If we can

return a healthier person to his community, that would put his loved ones and others

at less risk of contracting some of these communicable diseases. In that sense, what

we do in corrections benefits the community at large.

The hardest part is managing health care services while dealing with state-legis-

lated budgetary cuts. During the last legislative session we had our budgets cut, about

$75 million reduced from a $1 billion budget.

Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of thus far in your position?

A: The creation of the Office of Professional Standards’ Patient Liaison Program. It’s

often referred to as the ombudsman program. It’s a service for external, third-party

members, family, friends, prison advocates—anyone who has a complaint or inquiry

can contact this staff to obtain information about an offender’s situation. Each

inquiry is assigned to a staff member, who investigates and sends a response letter.

Last quarter, we received close to 3,000 calls and letters. Some of the family mem-

bers we talk to so much, we’re on a first-name basis.

Q: What do you foresee for correctional health care?

A: It’s going to be extremely challenging going forward,

because the main issue for us is the burden of disease, espe-

cially communicable diseases. [With] HIV and AIDS, for

example, the costs for drug therapy alone . . . take up 47 per-

cent of our pharmacy budget. Years ago, we did a study on

incoming inmates: Thirty percent of our population was

infected [with hepatitis C]. That’s 50,000 inmates.

The other major concern . . . is the graying of the prison population. Prisoners are

getting older, and all of the issues associated with geriatrics and the elderly are the

same issues in prisons.

The state mental health system [also] limits the number of illnesses they treat, so

if people don’t fall into certain categories they get left on the fringes . . . they end up

in prison [by] committing crimes, so we are a de facto mental health system.

Q: What led you to a career in medicine? Did you choose TDCJ or did it choose you?

A: When I left Exeter, I thought I’d be a history teacher. I went to Smith [College], and

I started taking biology courses, and I found that . . . it was something that clicked in

me. I realized, ‘Well, you want to be a teacher and you have this interest in the biolog-

ical sciences, [so] medicine is perfect for you because it combines the two.’

Originally, the state health commissioner just assigned us to TDCJ. But as time

went on, yes, they definitely chose me. They did not want me to leave the state.

Watch a video of Dr. Linthicum discussing her work:www.exeter.edu/bulletinextras.

(continued on page 101)

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Around the Table

Take two creative PEA classes—one filled with writers,the other visual artists. Add a Harkness-sized group ofChinese high schoolers interested in the English language

and poetry. Mix well with two Exeter faculty members whorecently traveled to China. Then log on to Skype. What do youget? A unique collaboration that challenges preconceptions, repo-sitions what language means in a global context, and leads tobreakthrough moments of discovery. During fall term students in English Instructor Erica Plouffe

Lazure’s Advanced Writing and Art Instructor Carla Collins’Advanced Studio Art classes Skyped with students from a topschool in China, The High School Affiliated to Renmin Univer-sity of China (RDFZ). In preparation for the sessions, whichwere held in English, students read poems selected from theWestern tradition—including works by Robert Frost, e.e. cum-mings and William Wordsworth—and from the Eastern tradition:“A Fair Maiden,” “Mulan, the Maiden Chief,” “Very quietly Itake my leave,” and poems by Li Bai and Du Fu. What does it mean to interpret an English poem for a non-

native English speaker almost 7,000 miles away? “We werepushed to develop a deeper understanding of the fundamentalchoices made by the poet—word choice, structure and sounds,”says Aaron Suduiko ’13.Despite the late hour for the Beijing students—the 13-hour

difference placed the Skype sessions at 8 p.m. their time—theircuriosity and insights impressed their Harkness collaborators.While discussing Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy

Evening,” an RDFZ student asked, “Do you think Robert Frostmeans death when he says ‘sleep,’ and possibly he has promises toa loved one before he dies?” Another wondered if the poem’sspeaker was a woman estranged from a lover on the “darkestevening of the year.” Ben Veres ’13, who, along with his class-mates, had thought the Frost poem was “about a simple journey,”found the questions eye-opening. “Our class was truly at a loss ofwords. It was asked as a question, but our silence proved it to be agreat interpretation.” Suduiko concurs, “It totally challenged all

of our preconceptions of the poem’s voice.”Designed as an art and poetry exchange, as well as

a forum for literary discussions, the collaborationinvited students to contribute original works inspiredby the poems.“The best part of the collaboration was that by

using technology and my favorite artistic medium, Icould connect with the RDFZ students despite ourphysical distance,” says Emma Herold ’13, whoshared her digital-photo montage based on “Mulan,the Maiden Chief.” She adds, “We formed a creativecycle. Poetry created in China was translated intoEnglish and given to us digitally, then we workedhere in America to translate English poetry into avisual representation, then technology helped us toshow our ‘translations’ to the RDFZ students.”During the first Skype session, the RDFZ students

asked Exonians for tips on writing poetry in English.Advice flowed freely. Although the Chinese students

did not contribute original poems during the fall term, Lazure ishopeful that the spirit of the exchange can continue and theywill find their voices. “Finding your voice is the first step to nam-ing your world,” explains Lazure. “Naming your world is thefirst step to knowing your world. And when you know yourworld, you have an ability to change it for the better—to make ityours—and to bring your ideas to life. Anyone who’s tried towrite a poem or create a work of art is on the path to makingthat knowing happen.”The Skype-facilitated art and poetry project was the latest

venture in Exeter’s exchange program with RDFZ. Started inMarch 2008, the program has resulted in many cross-culturalenrichments including: RDFZ students attending Exeter’s Sum-mer School, PEA faculty traveling to Beijing to research Easternculture and teaching, and a theatrical collaboration around theclassic Chinese play, Thunderstorm, performed on Exeter’s FisherTheater mainstage.

Cross-Continent Poetry and Art ExchangePEA CLASSES COLLABORATE WITH CHINESE STUDENTS V IA SKYPE

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English Instructor Erica Plouffe

Lazure uses Skype to connect

Exeter students with high

schoolers in China.

The Classical Languages Depart-ment recently welcomed RegiusProfessor of Greek Brian McGing,

Greek papyrologist and historian of the Hel-lenistic period at Trinity College Dublin,who gave a lunchtime seminar on the top-ic of ancient papyri. While on campus, he alsohelped shed light on a long-standing mystery.

Exeter has two papyri in its classical col-lection that have quietly resided in anunobtrusive display case for many years.Papyrus, manufactured in Egypt from theplant of the same name, was the most com-mon wr iting mater ial in the ancientMediterranean world. Rolls of it were usedfor recording everything from private con-tracts to lyric poetry, and from administra-tive correspondence to the books of theBible. Until now, it was not known whatsort of text the Exeter papyri contained.

Decoding a papyrus is difficult work under the best circum-stances. In the case of the Exeter papyri, the challenge is particu-larly daunting because of the small size and fragmentary nature ofthe scraps, which were torn at random from larger papyri ofunknown size. In addition, deciphering the writing itself is nosmall task, on account of rips and tears in the material and thefading of ink wrought by the ravages of time. But, as McGing

pointed out during his seminar, thesepainstaking efforts are always worthwhilebecause every scrap of writing tells ussomething about the ancient world and thelives of its inhabitants.

After analyzing the larger of the twofragments with students in GRK111: Ele-mentary Greek-Intensive, McGing was able tomake a preliminary assessment. Written inGreek and dating probably to the first orsecond century, it was likely an administra-tive text dealing with the registration ofindividuals or property as part of an officialcensus. After serving its original purpose,the papyrus was probably discarded andlater reused—most likely as part of thewrapping of a mummified crocodile or cat,students were shocked to learn. Thepapyrus then lay buried in the sands of

Egypt until its discovery centuries later.The task of fully translating and interpreting both fragments is

far from complete, but with the generous help of McGing’songoing guidance from Ireland, Exeter’s newest group of Greekscholars is eager to continue the work of decoding these crypticmessages from the past.

—Matt Hartnett, instructor in classical languages


Around the Table

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Student for a DayPrincipal Hassan takes a different seat at the table

One day in early October, Principal Tom Hassan left his office in

Jeremiah Smith Hall, notepad and pen in hand, and walked over

to Phillips Hall. Outside of English Instructor Ellen Wolff’s class-

room, he met up with Darby Henry ’13, and together they

entered the classroom. Hassan’s assignment? Spend the day with

Henry, to experience, Hassan says, “one small slice of her life.”

That slice included not only English class but also classes in

religion and astronomy, as well as lunch and Grill time with Henry

and her friends. Hassan’s estimation of the day? Invaluable.

“Probably the biggest takeaway from my time shadowing

Darby was the potent reminder of the powerful teaching and learning that takes place in our classroom, and just how hard the stu-

dents and faculty at Exeter work to make that dynamic happen,” he says. “The amount of preparation on the part of instructors and

students needed to make a successful Harkness class was evident in all of the classes I attended. That combined with the level of

enthusiasm exhibited made for some very intense moments. At the end of the day I was energized by all I had experienced…and I

was exhausted!”

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Ancient Mystery Revealed VIS IT ING SCHOLAR FROM IRELAND DECODES PAPYRI

Henry and Hassan


Around the Table

Campus Life at a Glance Snapshots from fall term (A) Wheelwright Hall girls celebrate Academy Life Day,and the dorm bonding the day encourages, by makingmusic videos. (B) Wentworth Hall boys chose dodge-

ball as their team-based activity, and the last man stand-ing receives a hero’s embrace. (C) Sean Beckett ’08, Yalesenior and member of the university’s Teeth Poets, wason campus to perform slam poetry alongside currentExeter students. (D) Students cook foods native to theirregions in Wetherell Dining Hall’s kitchen to serve duringInternational Day. (E) About 850 family members attend-ed Exeter’s Family Weekend in October to support theirstudents and experience campus life firsthand. (F) Bird-ing with Science Instructors Chris Matlack and RichAaronian was a popular class during the third annual,peer-taught “Saturday School Offerings” for PEA facultyand staff. (G) Camp Darfur, an interactive genocideawareness exhibit, was set up on the Academy Center’squad for two days in October. (H) Students put thoughtsand questions to paper to contribute to a makeshiftHarkness table in the Academy Center’s Agora, createdby the Pass It Forward Club. (I) The Exeteras, PEA’s all-male ensemble, sing in Phillips Church during a student-organized concert in November to benefit the victims ofHurricane Sandy.

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For videos and slideshowshighlighting these eventsand more, go to www.exeter.edu/bulletinextras.

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Around the Table

Exoniana DO YOU REMEMBER?

Exonians bundle up against winter chill before plowing through snow toward out-door fun. The archival photos in this issue illustrate a few winter scenes on cam-pus. Can you name the years when Exeter had an outdoor skating rink? Can youidentify any classmates in the photos? When you were at Exeter and needed astudy break, what were your favorite winter activities? Please share your memo-ries and/or photographs with us.

There will be two prizes awarded for answers to the contest. First prize willbe for the first answer received. The rest of the answers will be placed into adrawing and one winner will be chosen at random.

Email us at [email protected]. Or send your responses to Exoniana, c/oThe Exeter Bulletin, Phillips Exeter Academy, Communications Office, 20 MainStreet, Exeter, NH 03833-2460. Entries may be edited for length and clarity.

Answers to the last issue: The correct formula of answers to our sciencelab project photos is: (A) fractional distillation;(B) photoelectric effect experiment; (C) Mr.Andrew Polychronis’ science class; and (D) acalorimetry experiment.

And the Winner is:Trustee Wole Coaxum ’88 of Larchmont, NY,who received an Exeter travel bag. “I think the person in picture D is Sonya Chen[Van Der Meer] from the class of 1988. Notsure of her experiment, but it looks like her. Ihope that helps.”

We received no other entries for this Exoni-ana, but it’s not too late. If you can ID any ofthe students in these lab photos, please writeto us!

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Exonians in Review

In One Person is John Irving’s 13th novel, joininga distinguished lineup of works that have wonhim both critical praise and popular acclaim (The

World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules, APrayer for Owen Meany). Followers of Irving’s earlierworks will recognize many familiar elements and

themes here—absent fathers, conflict-ed mothers, quirky characters definedby a striking physical or social charac-teristic, wrestling as both plot deviceand metaphor. Members of the PEAcommunity will take particular noticeof the New England prep schoolwhere much of the novel is set (as wasalso the case with Garp). While thefictional Favorite River Academy inthe small town of First Sister, VT, isadmittedly not a top-tier institution,

many features of prepschool life descr ibedhere will be familiar toExonians, from dormbutt rooms and a coat-and-tie dress code tothe wrestling room inthe gym (one dorm atFavorite River is evencalled Bancroft).

In One Person fol-lows in many ways afairly conventionalcoming-of-age for-mat, with protago-nist Billy Dean

proceeding through the trials of adolescence,learning about his origins and making decisionsabout his future. There is discord among family mem-bers and within the sometimes claustrophobicallyclose school community. Billy discovers early his loveof reading and his gift for writing, which will dictatethe course of his adult life. But from the outset, Billyis not the typical American boy. At age 13 he visits thelocal public library to seek out books about youngpeople who have “dangerous” crushes on “thewrong people.” For Billy is “different”—he is attract-

ed to both males and females, and he intends to act onhis feelings.

Irving has never shied away from taking on con-troversial subjects, as he did with abortion in TheCider House Rules. He made waves as early as 1978with his sympathetic portrayal of the transsexualRoberta in Garp. This time, sexuality and genderidentity are front and center.

As an “out” bisexual, Billy Dean encounters hos-tility not only from the straight world. He is alsoresented by gay men for his affairs with women andby transgenders for not giving up his maleness. Hisstruggle throughout the novel is to live a life that istrue to his own convictions and yet will be deemed“worthwhile” by others. Irving showcases a parade ofcharacters whose variety of sexual and gender identi-ties are increasingly defined by themselves, ratherthan by society. “In one person,” as the title suggests,can reside many different desires and needs, and whois to say which are more worthy?

As the novel progresses, the focus broadens fromBilly’s personal story to that of the entire generationof sexually “different” men and women who came ofage in the late 1960s and ’70s. As society became, insome ways, more permissive and tolerant, it seemedthat Mother Nature became less so, with the appear-ance by 1980 of the various syndromes that eventual-ly came to be known as AIDS.

It must be said that this book will not be a com-fortable experience for all readers. The descriptionand discussion of sex is frequent and frank, and thepassages dealing with the ravages of AIDS on individ-ual men and women are harrowing. At times it seemsthat every character has some kind of a sexual secret(some less secret than others).

But the emphasis on sex is far from gratuitous.While pursuing physical lust in an astonishing numberof variations, Billy and many of the other charactersare seeking not just sex but love. They are looking foremotional connections in the midst of intolerance,indifference and, ultimately, the death that seemed soinevitable in the height of the AIDS epidemic. And,despite many missteps, they often do find it.

Courage and compassion are found in unexpectedplaces, and this is one of Irving’s main points. Con-

A Different Coming-of-Age StoryI N O N E P E R S O N , BY JOHN IRVING ’ 6 1A review by Mary Rindfleisch ’73

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John Irving’s latest

novel confronts

gender constructs

head-on.


Alumni/ae are urged to advise the Exonians in Review editor of their own publica-tions, recordings, films, etc., in any field, and those of classmates. Whenever possible,authors and composers are encouraged to send one copy of their books and originalcopies of articles to Edouard Desrochers ’45, ’62 (Hon.), the editor of Exonians inReview, Phillips Exeter Academy, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833.

ALUMNI/AE

1950—Russell S. ReynoldsJr. and Carol E. Curtis.Heads: Business Lessons froman Executive Search Pioneer.(McGraw-Hill, 2012)

1956—C. Reynolds Keller.Quinter. (Quinter LLC,2012)

1962—Edward de SaPereira [Alexander Campion,pseudonym]. Killer Critique: A Capucine Culinary Mystery.(Kensington, 2012)

1962—Douglas Penick.Journey of the North Star.(Publerati, 2012)

1966—Gil Bettman andMark W. Travis, directors.Hollywood Film Directing: TheScene. The Actor. The Camera[DVD]. (Hollywood Film Di-recting, 2011)

1967—William J. Murphyand others. Patent Valuation:Improving Decision Makingthrough Analysis. (Wiley,2012)

1972—Eben Alexander III.Proof of Heaven: A Neurosur-geon’s Journey into the After-life. (Simon & Schuster,2012)

1972—Merritt T. Cooke.Sustaining U.S.-China Cooperation in Clean Energy. (Wilson Center, 2012)

1976—Norb Vonnegut.Mr. President: A GroveO’Rourke Thriller. (AmazonDigital Services, 2012)

1978—Dean Erickson.Act. Adapt. Achieve: Find andFollow Your Path to Success.(CreateSpace, 2012)

BRIEFLY NOTED1946—David C. Purdy.“Some thoughts on breedingfor hardiness in section Tsutsusi Azaleas.” IN The Azalean. (v. 34, no. 1,spring 2012)

1960—Mike Harrigan. “Atage 40, time for changes toTitle IX.” IN Philadelphia In-quirer. (July 9, 2012)

1986—Shirley JenniferLim ’86. “ ‘Speaking Ger-man Like Nobody’s Busi-ness’: Anna May Wong,Walter Benjamin, and thePossibilities of Asian Ameri-can Cosmopolitanism.” INthe Journal of TransnationalAmerican Studies. (vol. 4, no.1, 2012)

1987—Charles E. Ehrlich.“Tools of the Trade: Ensuringefficiency of enforcementthrough integrated informa-tion technology systems.”IN Efficiency of EnforcementProceedings of Court Judg-ments and Acts of Other Offi-cial Authorities. (KazanFederal University, 2011)

—“The powers of Europeanenforcement authorities toexpedite execution of judg-ments” IN Improving Na-tional Safeguards for the Rightto a Fair Trial in the RussianFederation. (The EU-RussiaCooperation Program “Exe-cution and Efficiency of Jus-tice in the RussianFederation,” 2011)

1997—James K. Rustadand others. “Civil Commit-ment Among Patients WithAlcohol and Drug Abuse:Practical, Conceptual, andEthical Issues.” IN AddictiveDisorders & Their Treatment.(v. 11, no. 3, September2012)

1999—Ariel M. Cohen-Goldberg. “Phonologicalcompetition within theword: Evidence from thephoneme similarity effect inspoken production.” IN Jour-nal of Memory and Language.(v. 67, no. 1, July 2012)

cerned individuals nursedying friends, lovers and eventotal strangers. Writers like theadult William “Billy” Deanchange societal attitudesthrough their frank andunblinking creative work. Gaycouples form lifelong partner-ships that would be the envyof most of the straight couplesin the book. Eventually, gen-der identity and preferencebegin to be framed as humanrights protected by law andcustom, leading to the previ-ously unthinkable presence ofa publically transsexual stu-dent at Favorite River Acade-my by the end of the book.

Despite the novel’s some-times grim and gritty feel, read-ers will find much humor andhope in these pages to rewardthem. Especially poignant (yetalso very funny) is the portrayalof Billy’s cross-dressing lumber-man grandfather, who enjoysgreat success on the stage of theFirst Sister Players communitytheater in all the great femaleroles, from Hedda Gabler toMiss Marple. And we should allbe so lucky to have someone inour lives as loyal and supportiveas Billy’s friend, Elaine. Asalways, John Irving has createdvivid and memorable charac-ters, limned with great acuitythe dynamics of families, andchallenged us to rethink ourassumptions about ourselvesand about the world around us.I urge readers to take a chanceon this thought-provoking andabsorbing story.

itting at his Harkness table in Phillips Hall, English Department Chair Lundy Smithdescribes the building’s recent renovation in no small terms.

“It’s spectacular. It’s gorgeous,” he says. “I like the fact that we kept the elementof the old with incorporating the new, [all] without destroying the ethos in the fab-ric of the building. The modernization feels like it belongs here; it’s beautiful.”

Modern Languages Department Chair and Raymond W. Ellis Instructor RichardSchieber P’16 agrees, adding, “If you walk around, it doesn’t need much explanation.We have the same feel as a traditional Exeter building. It looks like it’s old, but it looks


‘A Building Without a Counterpart’Modernizing Phillips Hall with the Past in Mind By Karen Ingraham

SARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY WARREN PATTERSON UNLESS NOTED.


(Above) A newly remodeled corner classroom

in Phillips Hall. (Inset) Images of a corner

classroom taken in 1932. Note the similarity

of the light fixtures then and now.

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good in that sense—the Harkness tables, the black-boards, the entire character.”

Beginning last winter, Smith, Schieber, instructorsfrom both departments, and students endured—for ashort time—ceilingless corridors and classroomsunder demolition as contractors worked on the sec-ond phase of a two-year renovation of Phillips Hall,built 80 years ago as part of the Harkness plan. Theproject’s goal was a full renewal of the building, whichhad not undergone such a major renovation sinceopening in 1932. The plans included not only bring-

ing everything up to code and improving accessibility but also incorporating a newheating-and-cooling system and installing audiovisual equipment in every classroom.Thirteen new Harkness tables were also custom-built to the 1930s specs (see story onpage 24), nine tables were refinished, and 540 chairs were built to mirror those in theoriginal classrooms.

The aim was to get the building to a point where it could weather at least another50 years of use while “preserving the historical integrity of the original design. Our goalwas to provide an overhaul of the mechanical systems, add classroom spaces and addressaccessibility needs—all while maintaining the aesthetic quality that Phillips Hall hadwhen it was first created for the Academy,” says Peter Reiss, the project manager forArchitectural Resources Cambridge (ARC).

The following pages demonstrate how slight the architectural seam is betweenmodernity and tradition and highlight the design choices made to honor Principal


(Above) The lobby

was enhanced by

traditional light fix-

tures as well as LED

lighting and new

paint. (Inset) Phillips

Hall today.

Lewis Perry’s description of Phillips Hall in the July 1932 Bulletin: “It is a building with-out a counterpart, as far as we know, in the schools of the world.”

The Lobby“It is scarcely too much to say that Phillips Hall will be one of the most interesting school build-ings in the country.” —Editor, The Exeter Bulletin, April 1932

To move the building back in time, at least aesthetically, lighting became a significantfactor. Original lighting fixtures in the main lobby and the Elting Room were refur-bished. Efforts were also made to replicate the look of surviving fixtures and of thosevisible in photographs from the 1930s. Anita Bailey, PEA’s senior facilities administrator,says, “When we looked at what had been done in previous modernizations, we hadthings such as fluorescent-strip fixtures that were the ceiling lights in all the classrooms.We were able to find some of the older light fixtures that were original to the building.…And [we] found a company that made something very close.”

The Big Room “On the first floor is what we call ‘The Big Room,’ which will be used for informal lectures, musi-cal recitals, and the entertaining of visiting teams. This probably will become the social center of theschool.” —Principal Perry ’18, ’20, ’46 (Hon.); P’32, The Exeter Bulletin, July 1932

In addition to new paint, refinished floors and refurbished lights, the Academy installed174 new armchairs, made by a Massachusetts-based company, in the Elting Room.More important, however, was the addition of a wheelchair lift.


(Above) The Elting

Room is now acces-

sible via a wheel-

chair lift. (Inset) The

room in 1932 was

dubbed PEA’s

“social center.”

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Building Facts• Built on the site of the school’s old central heating plant; the adjacentquad is where the old running track used to be.

• Opened in 1932 with 41 classrooms, it now has 44.

• Phase I construction, which occurred during summer 2011, includedconstruction of two new fourth-floor dormers; replacement of the slateroofs and windows; reconstruction of the Elting Room patio; partialfourth floor and full fifth floor interior demolition; and construction of anelevator pit and electrical room.

• Phase II construction, in the spring and summer of 2012, consisted of acomplete replacement of the HVAC, plumbing, electrical, lighting andtelecommunication systems; building-code upgrades, including installa-tion of an elevator and a new fire-alarm system; new terrazzo flooringon second through fifth floors, in corridors and bathrooms; constructionof three classrooms on the fifth floor and rebuilding of fourth-floorspaces; and classroom technology upgrades, including permanent audio-visual equipment in every room and wireless connectivity.

• It is the first building on campus to be heated and cooled by the geot-hermal well system built under the Academy Building lawn last summer.

• During the 2012 construction, more than 160 workers were on-site in asingle day. Daily averages were 140 to 145 workers during the daytimeand 80 to 90 at night.

• 174 new armchairs for the Elting Room, built by Eustis Chair Co. inAshburnham, MA, from U.S.-grown hardwood trees. Twenty-eight of theold reclining chairs from that room were distributed to dorm commonrooms.

(Above) One of three new

classrooms on the fifth

floor. (Inset) That same

floor during renovation.

Twelve feet of the original

ceiling now contains duct-

work, piping and wiring.

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“We looked at a lot of different ways to provide accessibility to the Elting Room,”says James Meinecke, a project architect for ARC. “We had several different versions ofwheelchair lifts that we were going to use, [but we] ran into problems with existingmillwork. We moved steps forward to extend the landing, [then it was] a surgical processof cutting things out and building around the wheelchair lift.”

The Conference Rooms“Nor would it be easy to exaggerate the advantages of our new conference rooms—the students andteacher sitting around a table—the comfort, convenience, ease of teaching, naturalness of discussion, andeagerness to participate. To borrow a phrase from Chemistry, the new setting is a sort of catalytic agent,producing changes in another agent by real contact.” —Editor, The Exeter Bulletin, March 1933

“There is a real intimacy with these classrooms,” Smith says. “It’s not this sterile multi-purpose classroom, it’s emblematic of the person teaching in the room. It helps breakthe ice and makes it feel like a home, makes it feel comfortable.”

To preserve the learning atmosphere within each room, ARC was presented withthe design challenge of hiding “miles and miles of piping, ductwork and wiring,” Mei-necke says. “It was, ‘How do you feed all the ductwork, etc., but stay out of the class-rooms?’ And, if you have to cut a hole in the wall, make sure it’s replicated or put backexactly. It was a truly massive undertaking,” he adds, likening the project to a surgery.“We replaced all the organs in the system.”

To accommodate the installation of an elevator in Phillips Hall, two classrooms werereduced to one. With the building’s classrooms already at maximum capacity and someinstructors even sharing space, the decision was made to renovate the Debate Room on thefifth floor, creating three new classrooms.

“In light of our needs, we didn’t have enough classroom space; that was the bottomline,” Smith says. “A missed space, but worth it in terms of what we got in exchange.”

Dormers were also added onto the fourth floor, and the old Model Railroad Club’sroom on that floor, no longer used, was repurposed as well.


(Above) A new class-

room on the fourth

floor, in what was the

Model Railroad Club’s

room. (Inset) Construc-

tion of the new dormer

and eaves on that floor.

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What’s New Is Old AgainCrafting the next generation of Harkness tables and chairs By Karen Ingraham

When Douglas P. Dimes was learning the craft of reproduction fur-niture-making from his father, Douglas R. Dimes, he learned animportant lesson about change, about how it’s not always needed.

The younger Dimes had been creating a replica of a Queen Anne chair,a style of furniture popular in early to mid-18th-century America. Hebelieved the sturdiness of the new piece could be improved over the origi-nal if he increased the width of the chair’s crest from three-quarters of aninch to seven-eighths. His father was quick to point out that the originalchair was 240 years old. It had lasted long enough, proven its craftsmanship.No change was warranted; no change was made.

At 80 years old, the original Harkness tables in Phillips Hall have hadtheir design tested and proven as the underpinning of Harkness teachingand learning. So when it came time to renovate Phillips Hall and retire orrefinish those tables—with surfaces that had been loved, perhaps, a little toohard by students over the years—the Academy partnered with the youngerDimes. Now a master craftsman of museum-quality, early American repro-duction furniture and the owner and president of his father’s business, D.R.Dimes & Co. Ltd., Dimes has brought his artisanal understanding of olderfurniture to the creation of Exeter’s next generation of Harkness tables.

“Genius” is a term unlikely to be lightly used by Dimes, an energetic andcandid man whose love of history and passion for his craft charges everyconversation. But he applies that term to the original hand-drawn design ofa Harkness table, penciled by Corning Benton ’16 (Hon.); P’51, the Acad-emy’s treasurer from 1922-51 and also a skilled woodworker. Benton’s specsdictated “pregnant oval” tables be 6 feet, 11 inches wide by 11 feet long,largely to fit through classroom doorways that measured 7 feet high. Ben-ton also designed the 12 slides nested within each table that provide appro-priate autonomy for students when needed.

To ensure that the tables his Northwood, NH-based company builtwould be faithful to the first design, Dimes says he and his crew painstak-ingly measured and documented some of the original tables. Having builtreproduction furniture for nearly every early American museum—includ-ing Colonial Williamsburg and the Smithsonian—Dimes’ company, a com-bination of a small-job shop and a factory where furniture is bench-made,was uniquely suited to the project.

“It’s interesting to note,” he says, “even all the original tables from the1930s have very subtle differences in manufacturing because they weremade by hand.”

After drafting engineered drawings with CAD software, Dimes built aprototype in March 2012 and presented it to PEA’s Facilities ManagementDepartment. “The only real material difference,” he says, “is that the rim onthe outside is not as tall in order to conform with the Americans with Dis-abilities Act. Otherwise, it is materially the same as any Harkness table thatwas originally made.”

That spring, the Academy commissioned Dimes to make 13 single-piecetables, like the originals; three two-piece tables (single-piece tables couldnot be easily moved into the three new classrooms built on the fifth floor ofPhillips Hall); and one 18-foot, three-piece table for the Modern LanguagesDepartment room. Nine tables from the English Department were alsotagged for refinishing, and an order was placed for 540 chairs, modeled onthe originals, to be equally distributed to 36 Phillips Hall classrooms.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHERYL SENTER UNLESS NOTED.

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Before fulfillment of that order began in earnest, Dimes sat in on a Harknessclass. He wanted to see a table in use, to better understand the relationshipbetween it and its users. His initial reaction was surprise. When he was intro-duced to Jack Herney’s history class, the students applauded. “They were soexcited that I was going to build a new table,” he says. The Harkness conversa-tion about the U.S. Constitution that ensued was, according to Dimes, no lessenlightening.

“The Harkness table is the geography…it’s how we look at each other, howthe students interact,” he says, later adding: “The table is a symbol of everythingthat goes on [at the Academy.] It gets protected like a revered ancestor, and tobe making that symbol is pretty significant.”

The significance is not merely philosophical. Before production began lastJune, there were practical obstacles to overcome, mainly the table dimensionsand weight.

“We never had anything of this size,” Dimes says. “We had 4-foot-widedoorways to go into our finish rooms. We had to put two 4-foot doors [in]. Wehad to rip a hole in the side of a building to move these things around. We hadto move equipment around to have pathways. We made carts to be at waistheight so the guys could move them….Everything had to be oversized andcustom-built.”

Weight added to the challenge. Each tabletop, constructed separately fromits base, weighs 550 pounds. The original tables were made of either cherry ora mahogany-and-walnut combination. Dimes chose to work with cherrybecause the hardwood is grown in New England—important to both Dimesand PEA in terms of sustainability and the use of locally sourced materials. Eachtop is then built in layers—similar to how plywood is constructed—becauseboards of solid wood would not be stable enough to support a table’s lengthand width.

“In order to manufacture [the tables],” Dimes says, “they have to be turnedover a minimum of 10 times during the process. We have to flip the table com-pletely upside down….It takes at least four men, four rugged men.”

Those men, like many of Dimes’ 23 employees, have been with the compa-ny upward of 30 years. Dimes, who was born in Exeter and grew up in nearbyEpping, began by sweeping floors in his father’s shop and thinks of many of thecraftsmen as family. Yet, he expects, as his father did, a work ethic not unlikewhat drives so many Exonians.

“You have to really want to do what we want to do,” he says. “It’s not justa job. You have to love it, or you’re not going to survive here. We’re very proudof all the pieces.”

That pride gave way, briefly, to horror last summer when Dimes’ workerssaw the nine original tables that needed refinishing. The myriad wads of gumon the undersides were minor offenses compared to what the wood bore.

“There was plenty of personal expression on them,” Dimes says delicately.“We didn’t take it all out, but we took most of it out. We wanted to make surethat we didn’t sand [the tables] down too much, so they can actually be refin-ished one more time. I think they’ll last 125 years.”

Dimes doesn’t spend too much time dwelling on those future first nicks andgouges that will land on the new Harkness tables, completed and installed lastAugust and currently pristine with their glasslike surfaces. The finishes were“pre-distressed” to better absorb a ding or scratch, but the reward, for Dimes, isthat ultimately the tables are being used.

“The people who invest in our tables and chairs, basically their whole livesrevolve around [them],” Dimes says. “Who knows who is going to be sitting atour tables and what they’re learning? Who knows what they will go on to do?”

It is perhaps fitting that a Harkness table first conceived of to spur academ-ic conversation and debate engenders such questions in the master craftsmanwho now holds the blueprints.

Douglas Dimes of

D.R. Dimes & Co.

iriam Block ’77 became a pioneer the day she enrolled at Exeter in 1973. The Academyhad begun accepting girls only three years earlier so Block estimates her classmates werestill about 90 percent boys.

“The teachers were not used to girls yet, so I came into a very male-oriented environ-ment,” Block says. “That very much shaped how I think and operate today.

“The thing Exeter does is that you come out feeling like there’s not a lot you can’t fig-ure out or start or initiate. I carry that around with me, perhaps to a fault, where I thinkthat even though I’ve never done something before, I can just hop right in.”


Six alumnae entrepreneurs share their startup storiesBy Craig Morgan ’84

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Four decades after Block and others broke theAcademy’s gender barrier, scores of Exeter alumnae,buoyed by that same belief, are the driving forcesbehind entrepreneurial ventures as diverse as theimagination permits.

Whether it’s Jessica Winzelberg’s decision to leavea career in investment banking to handcraft fine jew-elry in San Francisco; Alexandra Wilkis Wilson’s

choice of fashion over finance; Carrie Norton’snomadic life as a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur;or Nicola Horlick’s Midas touch with myriad invest-ments, the six women profiled here share a passionfor creativity, a desire for autonomy and a hope forhuman impact that fuels their everyday enterprise.

“I think it’s in your blood,” says Kristin GroosRichmond ’93, the co-founder of Revolution Foods.


dariesGilt Groupe co-

founder Alexandra

Wilkis Wilson ’95

(right) with co-

founder Alexis

Maybank.

“I love the entrepreneurialspace. It’s the space where Ifeel at home.”

Productivity with PassionGroos Richmond was in a very different space after graduatingfrom Boston College with a B.S. in finance and accounting. Sheaccepted a position with Citigroup, was trained in the global ana-lyst program and was one of three analysts who became the firstwomen ever to join Citi’s High Yield/Leveraged Finance Group.The lessons learned there became invaluable tools in her

knowledge bag, but there was something fundamental that wasmissing.“I loved Wall Street but it was not what I was passionate

about,” Groos Richmond says. “Long-term, I knew I wanted towork in education and I wanted to spend some time abroad.”After four years in corporate finance, Groos Richmond

moved to Nairobi to co-found the Kenya Community Centrefor Learning, one of the first special education schools in EastAfrica. She led fundraising, development, operations, and financeand also taught physical education, geography and life skills.“A lot of the work I had done at Exeter was through ESSO

(the school’s student-led community service organization),” shesays. “It helped reinforce my belief that every child should have astrong and solid education. It’s the No. 1 way to set yourself upfor the future.”While in Kenya, a simple observation drove Groos Richmond

down her current path—an observation that was reinforced when

she left Kenya to serve as a vice president at RISE (Resources forIndispensable Schools and Educators), a nonprofit dedicated torecruiting and retaining quality teachers in public schools.Too often, she noticed children’s energy levels and attention

spans waning over the course of a school day because they simplyhadn’t eaten a healthy meal, enough of a meal or any meal at all.“I came home with this entrepreneurial seed in my mind,” she

says. “If children could come to school well nourished and haveaccess to good nutrition at school, that could be a tremendouslever for success by giving them the ability to focus and thenexcel. I had a pretty good instinct it was not being done well, andyet, it was so commonsensical that it needed to be done.”From the day Groos Richmond enrolled in business school at

the University of California at Berkeley, she set a goal of writinga business plan. As fate would have it, she met her current busi-ness partner, Kirsten Saenz Tobey, a former Andover teacher, andthey cofounded Revolution Foods in 2005.Seven years later, the company serves 200,000 healthy, fresh

meals daily to 800 schools across 25 cities. Eighty percent of thestudents qualify for free- or reduced-lunch programs that targetwhat Groos Richmond calls the most underserved communitiesin our nation.The next goal is to expand the company to offer a line of

“healthy, delicious, affordable family meals” at retail. This idea hasbeen driven by parents at Revolution Foods schools requestingthe ability to take home school meals for dinner.“I still have so much I want to accomplish,” says Groos

Richmond, who has two boys, Watts, 6, and Caleb, 3. “As a


“I loved WallStreet, but it was notwhat I waspassionateabout.”

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Groos Richmond (left) and co-founder Kirsten Saenz Tobey.


working mom, of course it’s challenging to build acompany and be a mom at the same time but I lovewhat I do and I am at peace with that decision. I haveenough autonomy over my schedule to be presentwhen I need to be and my family loves and supportsRev Foods.“If you’re going to be working hard, it’s such a

blessing to have that balance.”Balance was the reasonable expectation that

quickly drove Winzelberg ’03 and Wilkis Wilson ’95from the financial world.“I always loved math and the idea of finance and

business so I went to work for Lehman Brothersright out of college,” says Winzelberg, who took ajob in Palo Alto, CA, because she figured the WestCoast would be a little more “laid-back” than theEast Coast. “I quickly realized it wasn’t somethingthat resonated with me any longer. The work ethic,the moral integrity of my colleagues and the wayeveryone was doing business caused me to do a lot ofsoul-searching.”So did the late nights.“Most of my epiphanies came at 1:30 in the morn-

ing when I was still in the office, finishing somethingreally trivial,” she explains. “As anexample, I decided one night thatwe had to have a dog, so now wehave a 4-year-old dog. But in thebigger picture, I kept asking myself,‘Why am I doing this? This isn’twho I am.’ ”Winzelberg had dabbled in

jewelry making for most of herlife. When she was 9, she learnedthat if you remove all the bristles of a toothbrush then put thebrush in hot water, it becomes so malleable that you can bend itaround your wrist and make a bracelet. “My mom came home one day and there were no tooth-

brushes left in the house,” she says, laughing. “I have no ideawhere I got the idea, but I have always loved the creative process.“I realized, if I’m going to be working 120 hours a week, I’m

going to do something for myself instead of doing things I did-n’t have a connection with.”So she left Lehman in the fall of 2008, started Jessica Winzelberg

Jewelry “from nothing” and slowly learned every aspect of the busi-ness, from goldsmithing to soldering to supply chains and finance.She has a total of five stores in the Bay Area, greater Los Ange-

les and Houston, and a bright and roomy studio where she worksalone with the strains of Cat Power, classical music or reggae“when I want to pretend I’m on the beach.”Her work, according to her website, is defined by her unusu-

al combinations where large rough cabochon stones are mixedwith petite, brilliant-faceted colored gemstones and blendedwith Winzelberg’s trademark pattern motif metalsmithing. “My handprint is my entire company and it will always be

that way,” she says. “The reason I do this is the ability to createsomething lasting, and it’s not just in the context of a single pieceof jewelry, but in bringing beauty to the world.

“Maybe it’s very small and many won’tsee it, but when I see my customers’ facesafter they’ve discovered something thatmakes their lives brighter, it’s very fulfilling.Maybe it’s a selfish need to make something

of my own, but it’s really important and it gets lost for a lot ofpeople—to start with absolutely nothing and go to somethingtangible that I literally made with my own hands is a uniquefeeling.”

The Perils of ProprietorshipPursuing a passion is essential to entrepreneurial success, WilkisWilson says. But there are practical steps and pitfalls most entre-preneurs face along the way.“There is a little bit of naïveté when you first set out on one

of these ventures,” she explains. “That might actually be a goodthing because if one knew all of the true challenges that lieahead, more people would choose not to pursue a startup.”In November 2007, Wilkis Wilson colaunched Gilt Groupe,

considered the nation’s first and largest luxury lifestyle flash salesite for fashion, goods and services. “We wanted to take the concept of the New York sample sale

and bring it online in an exciting format to members across thecountry,” says Wilkis Wilson, who coauthored the book By Invi-tation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shopwith Gilt’s co-founder Alexis Maybank.Wilkis Wilson adds, “Most people don’t have access to these

sales because they are by invitation only, so we wanted to re-cre-ate that feeling of exclusivity.”

“My handprint is myentire company and it

will always be that way.”—Jessica Winzelberg ’03

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She and Maybank succeeded. But the company grew at such aremarkable rate that, at first, Gilt couldn’t keep up with the demand.“We had these really amazing brands and it was an absolute

coup to get them to partner with us,” Wilkis Wilson says. “Onthe flip side, our customers were already complaining that ourinventory was running out.”Ultimately, those were minor setbacks during Gilt’s meteoric

rise. Four years after the company was founded in 2007, Gilt’s esti-mated value was $1 billion. It helped that Wilkis Wilson and May-bank were able to leverage a relationship with designer Zac Posento convince other designers to join. It helped that they wereimmensely successful at raising capital. But their timing was alsoright. In 2007, the TV show“Project Runway” had beenexposing mainstream audi-ences to high-fashion person-alities and runway looks,while luxury brands were cre-ating “capsule” collectionswith the goal of making luxu-ry more accessible to everydaywomen and men. Gilt caughtthat wave. Ever since, Wilkis Wil-son has been intent on sharing her experience. “The reason that we wrote our book was to encourage and

inspire entrepreneurship, especially among women,” she says.“From our perspective, we were trying to do something that wasdisruptive. We were trying to change customer behavior as wellas industry behavior. That, in itself, is a challenge. But we hopedthat in sharing our story honestly we could help encourage oth-ers and help increase the chances of success for other startups.”There are, of course, the well-chronicled challenges of raising

capital and assembling the correct team and partners, but some-times, the pitfalls of entrepreneurship are more personal andmore public.Nicola Horlick ’79 was a whiz kid from Balliol, Oxford, when she

joined merchant bank S.G. Warburg & Co. By age 32, she was man-aging director of a struggling part of Morgan Grenfell & Co., andtook its assets under management from £4 billion to £22 billion.As the founder and CEO of Bramdean Asset Management

LLP in the U.K., Horlick has been a leading fund manager inLondon for more than 28 years. But she endured personaltragedy when the eldest of her six children, Georgina, died ofleukemia 14 years ago at the age of 12. She was also stung by theloss of 9.5 percent of the asset value of a vehicle that was coman-aged by Bramdean to Wall Street fraudster Bernie Madoff in late2008. It was the other manager who made the investment, buther reputation was temporarily damaged by several inaccurateand sensationalized portrayals of the situation in the British press. “My life has certainly been a bit rocky but I’ve learned perse-

verance,” she says. “In the end, if you know you’re right, youmove on.”

The PayoffHorlick has a taste for the next venture, and her interests havegrown more varied as her successes have snowballed. She is thefounder and CEO of Derby Street Films; she recently co-launched Rockpool Investments LLP, where she serves as chair-

man; and earlier this year, she openeda new restaurant and private mem-bers’ club in the Barnes enclave ofsouthwest London, which shenamed Georgina’s, after her latedaughter.Business startups are a serial pas-

sion for Horlick and she readilyadmits that financial gain is a neces-sary and obvious goal with every

undertaking, but there is something more that motivates her.“I like building things that are going to endure. Money is not

the motivator at all,” she says. “It is about leaving a legacy, but it’salso about employing people and giving them good careeropportunities.”


“I like building thingsthat are going toendure. Money is notthe motivator at all.”—Nicola Horlick ’79

“I am convinced that asa civilization, we have toredesign our industrialand capitalist systems...”

—Carrie Norton ’87

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Like Horlick, Carrie Norton’s goals are grand in scale. Putsimply, she wants to change the world through sustainable busi-ness education.“I am convinced that as a civilization, we have to redesign our

industrial and capitalist systems to serve us rather than under-mine us,” she says. “There is a formal definition of sustainablebusiness that considers its impact on society and the environ-ment. When you think about the way most businesses operatetoday, there are a lot of externalities that should be betteraccounted for beyond the standard bottom line.”Norton’s career in sustainable business and entrepreneurship

includes forays into children’s health care, food systems andrenewable energy.In March 2011, she founded Green Business BASE CAMP, a

global entrepreneurial education company that provides immer-sive workshops and training tobudding entrepreneurs andcorporate intrapreneurs whoare addressing sustainabilitychallenges.“The next big milestones

for us as a company in 2013will be taking in outside capitalto build out our eLearningplatform and go global with ourservices, and finding great talent to complement our team,”Norton ’87 says. Both tasks are simultaneously daunting and exhilarating for

her. Yet she presses on because the stakes and the potential payoffs(financial and otherwise) are so important to her.“We are at a critical juncture in the global business commu-

nity,” Norton says. “We have enough information now to createtransformation inside organizations and enough demand fromthe marketplace to bring these ideas into practice.“Our hope is to help build sustainability into the DNA of

these populations so that it isn’t an afterthought; it is core to theirbusiness model, their operations, and their products and services.We also are equipping them with tools and knowledge that willlead to higher rates of success for the overall population of entre-preneurial thinkers focused on these issues. We need as many suc-cess stories as possible on this front.” With third-party software development and web design

among her many ventures, Miriam Block knows the hurdles andcomplexities that trip up entrepreneurs all too well. But her mostrecent ventures reflect a return to the simplicity and beauty ofthe creative process. Following a divorce, Block finally gave in to a lifelong desire.

In 2008, she co-founded Bohemian Creamery, an artisanalcreamery in Northern California featuring handcrafted cow, goatand sheep milk cheeses.“The first time I stuck my finger into the curd was one of

those ‘Aha’ moments,” Block says, laughing. “Our first smallbatch of cheese was very popular and we were able to get it dis-tributed to white-tablecloth restaurants, like The French Laundryand Chez Panisse. From that point, we developed nine cheeseswhile I was there and it was a wonderful experience.”Like many before, it didn’t last. Philosophical differences over

the direction of the company led to a break in her partnership

and Block accepted a buyout in July. Now Block is in what shecalls her “reinvention phase,” with several ideas percolating,some in more advanced stages of production than others, includ-ing a goat milk caramel sauce.“I am trying to bring it to market but I’m also trying to fig-

ure out how to balance my immediate need for money with thedesire to start yet another company,” she says. “Everything is tak-ing longer now because I don’t have as much capital to risk as Idid with the creamery. I’m also trying to examine different mod-els of small food production in hopes of creating a company thatis more sustainable with a little less work.”Block doesn’t view these as obstacles. Quite the contrary.

They are mere moves in one of her favorite games.“It’s fun and life should be fun,” she says. “I love starting proj-

ects and exploring something new because it’s very liberating.“I think, sometimes, people get too caught up in the mechan-

ics of it all. If you feel like you’ve got a dream and you want to goforth with it, then do it. It doesn’t have to be this overwhelmingfeeling that ‘This is how I have to make my life!’ Sometimes it’sjust, ‘Wow, this would be a really great thing to try.’ “But you have to take a leap of faith. You have to see beyond

day-to-day obstacles. Maybe I acquired it along the way at Exeteror maybe it’s just who I am. I don’t know the answer, but it’swhat allows me to do these crazy things and I can’t imagine itany other way.”

Craig Morgan ’84 is a freelance writer who serves as a columnist for

msn.foxsports.com and foxsportsarizona.com, an editor for cbssports.com, a con-

tributing writer to various magazines and a marketing writer for select clients.


“If you feel like you’vegot a dream and youwant to go forth with

it, then do it.”—Miriam Block ’77

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Sports

Even the casual observerof professional and collegeathletics knows that film

analysis is widely used by coach-es to sharpen their teams’ per-formances. It’s no different atExeter, and now some PEAcoaches have begun to rely on the latest technology tofurther maximize their use of film.

This past fall, the Physical Education Department adopted Hudl,a film management system in wide use by a variety of sports teamsat the professional, collegiate and high school levels. Exeter’s volley-ball and football teams are the first two groups to begin using Hudlextensively. For the football coaching staff, the switch is the latestupgrade in technology that spans Super 8 mm, 16 mm, full-size cas-settes, minicassettes, and DVDs.

“We’ve always used film,” says Exeter’s Head Football CoachBill Glennon P’00, P’02, P’05. “It’s been a great teaching tool foryears. The advent of the VCR tapes made it easy to load a film,move back and forth through the game and break down plays morequickly for the kids. But it was still painstakingly slow to make a sea-son or individual athlete highlight film.”

That’s now changed dramatically. After filming and uploading agame to Hudl servers, coaches and players can view film over theInternet on their own schedules. A football game’s film might alsobe broken down into a discrete series of 124 plays that could total a

very manageable 24 minutes of action. “We use [Hudl] to illustrate how to avoid

mistakes, where to align, where to go,” Glennonsays. “In the case of opponents, we can say this iswhere you lined up here, telestrate it, move thearrow over the film and say this is where youshould be lined up against this formation. We’rejust scratching the surface so far.”

The advantages of using such software alsoextend to college recruitment. PEA coachestypically provide, or assist, their athletes withall-important individual highlight films to dis-tribute to prospective colleges and universi-ties. Hudl streamlines the process by offering

a user interface that is intuitive enoughso that players can build theirown highlight fi lms andreview the finished pieces withtheir coaches.

“It saves them and us a lot ofmeeting time and gives the playersmore freedom to assemble what’simportant to them,” Glennon says.

The New England PreparatorySchool Athletic Council’s footballleague has also adopted Hudl, andcompeting teams have agreed topost videos by 11 a.m. on Sundaysduring football season. Teams canthen watch and scout their upcom-ing opponent’s recent game film.

Volleyball Coach Bruce Shanghas experienced benefits similar tothose Glennon outlines. “It alsoallows our coaches to make a

scouting report when we play a team a second time,” he says. “Weuse a team film session so that we know the opponent’s hitting ten-dencies, recognize formations that we can exploit, and identifyplayers we need to stop or attack.”

Shang finds other uses for the program too: “It’s allowed us toget game film that night to parents all over the world who are eagerto see their kids play.” He also likes to make a season highlightvideo for the end-of-the-year team dinner. “That same highlightreel will also be shared [with] prospective student athletes to sparkinterest in coming to Exeter, and so they know the level of playexpected to make varsity,” he says.

Game Strategy Gets High-TechPEA ATHLETIC TEAMS ADOPT NEW F ILM ANALYSIS TECHNIQUESBy Mike Catano

(Top) Video analysis in Hudl.

(Bottom)Volleyball Coach

Bruce Shang reviews a game

with the varsity team.

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Virtual CoachingPEA’s YouTube Videos Help Athletes TrainBy Mike Catano

Last spring, Andrea Sweet, PEA Inter-scholastic Athletics’ strength and con-ditioning coach, was planning herannual summer strength programfor team athletes who work out off-campus. In the past, the athleteswould email her their questionsabout particular exercises in theprogram, but this time she had anew approach in mind.

“I wanted the athletes to be ableto look at the workout before goingto the gym,” Sweet explains. “Orthey might already be at the gymand it would be easier if they had the exercises in their hands. If theyforgot exactly how to do a lunge or a pushup with rotation, I wantedto provide it right there for them.”

The solution was a series of YouTube videos created by Sweetthat illustrate her program and provide students who have mobiledevices with immediate access to a particular exercise.

Sweet filmed the clips over several weeks during the spring. “Ipicked out the common exercises that I had for all the teams,” shesays. “For example, I knew everyone was going to do a squat ordumbbell bench, so I did all those exercises first. And then I filmedteam-specific exercises, say for football or water polo, [which in-clude] Olympic lifting.”

Sweet demonstrated the exercises in the clips, so she relied onstudents for help. “It was great working with the kids who filmedme in the weight room [by] using an iPad,” she says. “Of course,the students knew how to do everything better than I did. AbbieYoung ’12, who graduated last year and is a rower at Yale now,showed me how to set up the YouTube channel. I have dorm duty inKirtland House where Abbie lived. We sat there all night and up-loaded everything. It was awesome!”

Sweet has received a lot of positive feedback from coaches whohave told her the videos made it easier for students to do their sum-mer workout programs. She has also foundthe clips useful as a resource for other stu-dents, as well as faculty and staff members,who seek her help in developing personalconditioning programs. Sweet gets themstarted in person and then points them toYouTube, but she emphasizes that the clipsare meant as a supplement for people whohave learned the proper techniques for lift-ing—not a replacement for such training.

Sweet plans to add more clips this winter. “I mainly havestrength and lifting exercises online now,” she says. “I want to addexercises for speed and agility, dynamic warm-ups, more core exer-cises, flexibility and injury prevention.” With no shortage of ideas,now Sweet is also considering adding a voice-over track to talk ath-letes through an exercise.

Five-Game Winning Streak in E/A Football MatchupPlus big wins for water polo and boys cross-country

In a stunning varsity football game on November 10, Exeterrebounded from a score of 7-9 in Andover’s favor during the thirdquarter to a resounding final of 35-9. The win pushed Exeter’sannual winning streak to five games over Andover in what isAmerica’s longest-standingfootball rivalry between twohigh schools.

The game, played at PhillipsAcademy in Andover, MA, thisyear, included outstanding playsfrom Jonathan DiBiaso ’13,who quarterbacked the major-ity of the game, and runningback Andreas Robinson ’13,who once again excelled with189 yards of rushing.

Senior Co-Captain Wesley Abram said, “This is the ultimategame of the season. Literally thousands of people watch, whetheronline or in the stands. Alums congregate all over the country toreunite and watch this game. This win is not the icing on the

cake—it is the cake. We have all beenhungry for the championship ringsince the first day of preseason.”

This is only the second time in itshistory that Exeter football has wonfive games in a row against Andover;the other time took place en route to asix-game win streak from 1913–18.

The boys water polo team scored itsown impressive win that day, capturing

the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council’s champi-onship bowl at the Interschols playoffs. Exeter was the No. 1 seedand relied on its tough defense during the tournament as the boysheld Brunswick to two goals in their first game. In the champi-onship game against Choate Rosemary Hall, they won in con-vincing fashion, 11-4.

Boys cross-country traveled to Loomis Chaffee in Connecti-cut on Exeter/Andover day for its Interschols competition. As thedominating team from the fall season, PEA lived up to expecta-tions and won the championship race, with Kieran Scannell ’13placing first.

Check out Coach Sweet’sYouTube channel: www.youtube.com/PEAStrength.

Watch video froma crowd cam, orview the footballgame online atwww.exeter.edu/bulletinextras.

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Principal Tom Hassan

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(A) Boys Cross-CountryRecord: 5-01st place at Interschols;New England ChampionsHead Coach: Nick Unger ’90 Assistant Coaches: Bill Jordan,Brandon NewbouldCaptains: Austin Crouse ’13, Connor Mulligan ’13, KieranScannell ’13MVP: Kieran Scannell

(B) Girls Cross-CountryRecord: 2-3Head Coach: Gwyn Coogan ’83 Assistant Coach: Dale BraileCaptains: Christina Collis ’13,Sarah Van Cleave ’13MVP: Elsa Chinburg ’15

(C) Field HockeyRecord: 9-5-3Head Coach: Kristie BaldwinAssistant Coaches: ChristineRobinson, Keslie TomlinsonCaptains: Katrina Morris ’13,Hannah Wellington ’14, Gabriella Wozniak ’13MVP: Gabriella Wozniak

(D) FootballRecord: 8-12nd place at NEPSAC Jack Etter BowlHead Coach: Bill GlennonAssistant Coaches: Ted Davis, Dick Eustis ’57, Dave Hudson,Matt MillerCaptains: Wesley Abram ’13,Hunter Carey ’13, Devon Carrillo ’13, Andreas Robinson ’13MVPs: Devon Carrillo, AndreasRobinson

(E) Boys SoccerRecord: 16-3-2Qualified for NEPSAC finalsHead Coach: A.J. CosgroveAssistant Coaches: John Hutchins,Mike Wilson Captains: Harry Choee ’13,Matthew Ryan ’13, NicholasWeigel ’13MVP: Harry Choee

(F) Girls SoccerRecord: 9-7-2Head Coach: Hilary CoderAssistant Coach: Bill DennehyCaptains: Lauren Boulger ’13,Darby Henry ’13, Carlin Zia ’13MVPs: Danielle Sim ’14, Carlin Zia

(G) VolleyballRecord: 7-11Head Coach: Bruce ShangAssistant Coaches: Joanna Ro, Scott SaltmanCaptains: Paula Gaither ’13, Erin NaPier ’13MVP: Erin NaPier

(H)Water PoloRecord: 14-51st place at Interschols; New England ChampionsHead Coach: Don MillsAssistant Coach: Andrew McTammany ’04 Captains: Maximilian Drach ’13,Yonghwan Moon ’13, Kurt Pianka ’13MVP: Maximilian Drach

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PHOTOS BY MIKE CATANO UNLESS NOTED


Connections

When Thomas J. Reckford ’60 quit Harvard Business School in 1964, the world opened up to him. Antici-pating being drafted, Reckford volunteered with Army Intelligence and was given his preferred assign-ment in Orléans, France. Almost 50 years later, Reckford still studies foreign countries. “My whole

professional life has been involved with international affairs in one way or another,” he says. It shows. Reckford canoffer encyclopedia-like details about countries with the ease of someone describing his hometown.

From France, Reckford went to Frankfurt, Germany, and watched Soviets spying on the U.S. military. When Reck-

ford visited a CIA base to borrow a camera, he was offered a job, which he took in 1968. “I had fallen in love with the

world of intelligence and wanted to join the first team,” Reckford explains. He spent six years with the CIA and

learned a career-defining skill.

Reckford, the youngest person ever to work in the CIA’s Office of National

Estimates (ONE), wrote National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs): studies that

combined information from open sources, like The Economist, with that of intelli-

gence experts, including those from the CIA, the Department of Defense and the

Department of State. “[NIEs] are the pinnacle of analytical products in the intel-

ligence community. They go to the president and his national security adviser,” Reck-

ford explains.

He started as a specialist on France but later wrote on Europe, Africa and

Latin America. In 1973, Reckford says, “ONE, which I loved, was abolished by the

Nixon White House, largely because of very negative assessments on the war in

Vietnam. I was so angry the office had been expunged that I quit the agency.”

He spent two years with the presidential/congressional Commission on the

Organization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy, running its

investigation on the intelligence community. Reckford then joined Eaton Corp., a

Fortune 500 company, as an international political analyst before teaching politi-

cal risk analysis at Georgetown University and establishing a consulting firm,

which, Reckford says with a laugh, he “modestly called Reckford International.”

In 1986, the think tank Center for Strategic & International Studies hired

Reckford to write political risk analyses, mostly on East and Southeast Asia. In

1987, he and Ronald D. Palmer, then U.S. ambassador to Mauritius, co-authored

the book Building ASEAN: 20 Years of Southeast Asian Cooperation (Praeger).

Reckford is currently vice chairman of the World Affairs Council of Washing-

ton, D.C., “a membership organization for people who care passionately about

international affairs.” It offers monthly programs with speakers who include Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Sen-

ate Intelligence Committee, and James R. Clapper Jr., director of National Intelligence. The nonprofit also teaches

international affairs to high school teachers and sends inner-city kids overseas. Reckford notes, “For someone who

got his start in the intelligence world, where not many people could see the studies I wrote, it’s nice to be involved in

something that’s completely open.” Reckford is also president of the Malaysia-America Society, which promotes

understanding between the United States and Malaysia.

“I think of myself in semiretirement,” claims Reckford, perhaps unclear as to what “retirement” means. When

not working with these organizations, Reckford finds time for squash, tennis, duplicate bridge, golf and a theater

group he founded that performs staged readings in living rooms.

Residents of D.C., Reckford and his wife, Jane, “have in common a deep love for travel,” he says. “We have been

married 31 years. Virtually every year, we have gone to Europe, but I’ve also taken her on business trips elsewhere in

the world: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Morocco.”

Reckford has visited about 100 countries, but, he concludes, “There’s a certain irony in being focused on interna-

tional affairs. There is a lot of the United States I’ve never seen.” The Grand Canyon, Los Angeles and Charleston,

S.C., remain on his bucket list. Maybe when Reckford actually retires, he and Jane can travel to those places.

—Taline Manassian ’92

EXONIAN PROFILE

THOMAS J. RECKFORD ’ 6 0

Eyes on the World


Connections

EXONIAN PROFILE

ROBIN KELSON ’ 7 7

For the Greener GoodRobin (Kelley) Kelson ’77 started down the fruitful path many Exeter alum-

ni/ae have traversed postgraduation: She headed to a prestigious university(in her case, Yale), ready to immerse herself in academia. As life would

have it, the unexpected occurred a year into college.

Kelson got wind of a job opportunity at an organic farm near Santa Rosa,

CA, and a gut instinct nudged her west. She left Yale after her freshman year

to tend to the bounty—including 150 varieties of fruit and an assortment of

rare and heirloom beans and grains—produced on the 1.5-acre Pippindale

Farm garden. “The only thing we bought was cooking oil and coffee beans,”

says Kelson, originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. “There’s a lot of empower-

ment in that feeling of being independent and self-reliant. That was a big piece

for me at the time, as well as discovering the relationship you develop when

you are participating in the natural rhythms of the earth.”

Since her farm days, Kelson has spent a good portion of her life under-

standing this relationship while pursuing unique careers catered to her diverse

interests. She’s now vice president of corporate development for Algae Aqua-

Culture Technology, Inc. (AACT), a Montana-based producer of “Green Power

Houses,” as Kelson calls them. The concept is earth-friendly and ingenious: a

5,000-square-foot structure somewhat similar in scope to a greenhouse uses

sunlight and algae to transform waste gas emissions (carbon dioxide, for

example) and waste woody biomass into four forms of fuel and organic soil

amendment. The facility produces no waste, reclaims up to 600 gallons of

water during the conversion process and provides a half acre for growing an

array of crops year-round. The process also naturally loads the soil with vitamins and nutrients, hence enriching the

quality of the food it produces.

“Fundamentally, what we’ve done is create an ecosystem under one roof,” says Kelson. “The reason these power-

houses are so viable is that they work at the community level. That’s an essential component to managing our ener-

gy needs and climate-change issues going forward. We’re not separate from everything else on this planet. That’s not

only true for the health of the planet, but also for our own personal health.”

Word of these powerhouses is spreading globally; Kelson’s company, which has a pilot site at a lumberyard in

Columbia Falls, MT, has heard from potential buyers in Hawaii, Utah, Ghana, Brazil and First Nation communities in

Canada. Kelson assists the company in a wide range of business matters, including intellectual property, permitting and

certification processes, a task she honed from 1989–95 while practicing patent law for a Boston-based venture capital

law firm and specializing in biotechnology startup companies. The position seemed ideal, given Kelson’s biology and

chemistry degrees from the University of Oregon and her master’s degree in protein biochemistry from the Massa-

chusetts Institute of Technology. Yet, Kelson’s undying curiosity about the relationship between humans and their plan-

et, particularly the relationships among soil health, food nutrition, and the human immune system—topics she studied

in her spare time—eventually prompted a departure from law so she could further her knowledge on this issue.

This ability to inquire was at the core of Kelson’s Exeter experience. “Exeter encourages curiosity and explo-

ration, to consider that anything is possible,” she says. “Exeter also helped me recognize I was important as a per-

son; I could do anything, and I could make a difference.”

Kelson says AACT has given her the opportunity to utilize the various skills she’s acquired since her days at Exeter.

She’s now quick to offer advice to naysayers questioning the importance of a well-rounded education: “When I was

at Exeter, I remember saying to my chemistry professor, Ms. [Mary E.] Plumb, that I was never going to use chem-

istry. I ended up getting a chemistry degree. Never say never!”

—Fred Durso Jr.


Connections

NASA’s Curiosity rover, which touched down on Mars last August, spends its days wandering theMartian landscape, scooping up rocks, analyzing them and sending its findings back to Earth(and despairing about being left on Mars for eternity, if you believe the popular Twitter feed

@SarcasticRover). And it does all that with a little help from its friend, Sarah Milkovich ’96.

Milkovich is a science operations systems engineer working out of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

in Pasadena, CA, which means she is the go-between for the scientists and the engi-

neers. She helps the scientists as they decide what experiments Curiosity will perform

and works with the engineers who generate the commands that make those experi-

ments happen.

“I’m one of the ones running around behind the scenes to plan the process,” she

explains. “I help decide things like, ‘This is where the scientists want to scoop up some

dirt and put it into the analysis instruments. How do the engineers turn that request

into a set of commands?’ ”

Milkovich’s job is part politics and part science. This means that her Ph.D. in plane-

tary geology comes in handy on a day-to-day basis. “You have to know enough of the

science and be able to talk to scientists and understand their priorities and concerns,

and then translate those to the engineers,” she explains. Politics was especially preva-

lent in her previous work as an operations team member for Cassini, the NASA space-

craft orbiting Saturn. She had to make decisions about which experiments would take

priority, how much time each experiment would run and whether a particular experi-

ment was even feasible. “When is it appropriate to get the engineers to stretch just a

little bit further?” she says. “When do you go back to the scientists and say, ‘No, you

can’t do that’? You have to know when to push on whom.”

While being the intermediary has its challenges, Milkovich wouldn’t have it any

other way. “I like being at that intersection between science and engineering,” she

says. “It’s where the action is. It’s really great to be part of the group that gets to tell a

robot millions of miles away what to do. The part of the job I really love is working with

the scientists to get their data. I relate to them; I come from their world. Every bit of

data is very important to someone on the team.”

Though she spends her day working on interplanetary projects, Milkovich says

sometimes she does get bogged down in the earthy details. “Sometimes you have to

stand back and realize: We’re arguing over this thing, but it’s really awesome because

we’re taking pictures of Mars.” So she makes an effort to give talks about her work at

local schools. “It’s a reminder of how awesome it is that I get to do this,” she says.

One school she’s speaking at is a bit of a hike for her, though: Milkovich is giving an assembly at Exeter

in February. “That will be exciting,” she anticipates, noting that in addition to talking about the rover, she

plans on discussing careers in engineering and science, particularly for women. “When I was trying to

decide what I would do with my own career, it helped to see women doing these jobs,” she says.”

Milkovich was a two-year Exonian, and today she credits the school with giving her the confidence to

aim for the stars. “The first two years I was in high school, I was one of the quiet, shy nerds in the back of

class,” she says, laughing. “The Harkness philosophy pushed me to speak up, and defending my ideas

made me realize that I had ideas that were worth defending. I think Caltech would have been much hard-

er if I hadn’t had that internal sense of, ‘I can do this.’ ”

—Susannah Clark ’84

EXONIAN PROFILE

SARAH MILKOVICH ’ 9 6

Head in the Stars

the past two summers in completely refur-bishing this signature building. The Trusteesalso recognized and applauded the enor-mous amount of work and coordinationneeded to complete such an extensive proj-ect on a very tight schedule.The remainder of Thursday afternoon

included a discussion of other buildings andgrounds projects. Trustees were advised ofthe plans for the full renovation of the Lam-ont Health and Wellness Center, which willbegin this spring and is slated for comple-tion at the end of summer 2013. More spe-cific details about this project will beavailable in the coming months. In addition,the group heard more about planning fornew performing arts facilities, whichinclude three areas: a new theater, a newdance studio, and an expansion of practiceand concert space for our musicians. TheTrustees fully support the importance ofour growing and thriving arts programwhile recognizing that construction of newfacilities will involve significant financialresources acquired through fundraising.The Trustees ended a long and produc-

tive day over dinner with faculty involved inHarkness outreach through our variousprograms. They were energized to learnabout the great variety of offerings and theconnections the Academy is making withschools and teachers throughout this coun-try and the world. On Friday they heardfrom Director of Summer School Ethan

Shapiro and Hassan about preliminary con-versations PEA has had with a new urbanschool eager to adopt Harkness pedagogy,and they will learn more in the comingmonths as discussions proceed. Also onThursday night, some trustees joined Has-san for dinner with this year’s John PhillipsAward recipient, Dr. Lannette Linthicum’75, who spoke the next morning at assem-bly with every trustee in attendance.As is tradition, several trustees met with

Student Council leaders over breakfast Fri-day morning. They were glad to hear thatthe students are enjoying their experiencehere and are so devoted to the leadershipwork of the council. Later that morning,Chief Financial Officer Chris Wejchertreviewed the budget with the Trustees. TheTrustees earmarked a small positive variancein the operating budget to put into quasi-endowment and used at a later date to sup-port building projects now in the planningstages. Hassan and Dean of Faculty RonKim also talked about the progress made incontrolled hiring. By way of background, inthe wake of the financial market collapse,the Academy instituted the practice of con-trolled hiring. As part of this process whenthere is a staff or faculty opening, the Acad-emy evaluates whether the position shouldcontinue and if so at what level. PEA hasmet the budget reduction target set threeyears ago and recognizes that controlledhiring has served the school well. Thispractice will, therefore, continue, with theexpansion of the target set for the level offaculty hires.The rest of Friday included a discussion

led by Kim and Exeter’s Director of GlobalInitiatives Eimer Page on the topics ofdiversity and outreach. The Trustees werevery pleased to learn about the Academy’sfocus on diversity both in the opening fac-ulty workshop and through the recentlyreleased diversity and equity report findings.They look forward to hearing more as theinternal community discusses the reportand decides on the next steps to support ourdiversity and equity efforts. They alsoapplauded the various off-campus outreachofferings for both students and faculty andcontinue their interest in seeing these expe-riences inform our coursework and ourmutual engagement.Overall, the Trustees appreciated the

warm welcome they received from staff,faculty and students and look forward totheir next visit to campus in January.


Trustee Roundup(continued from page 5)

sations continue when they’re back oncampus, where other faculty members areinvited to join in.The third global initiative is student

curricular learning: those programs thatcontribute to students’ diplomas andinvolve off-campus study. Exonians havespent terms in the Bahamas, China, Eng-land, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan,Russia and Vietnam. New programs thisyear are in Rome, Italy, and Cuenca,Ecuador, and Page will seek facultyapproval for a program in Ghana nextyear. It would be based at SOS–HermannGmeiner International College, where 20percent of students are refugees andorphans, and, says Page, would provide“huge opportunities for [Exeter] studentsto participate in meaningful communityservice, which is woven into the fabric oftheir school week.” The final strand is student experiential

learning, which doesn’t count toward aca-demic requirements but can be fine-tunedto meet an individual’s interests. Studentshave undertaken internships with theAcademy of American Poets, at the Con-servation Law Foundation, at The ParisReview, and with designer Nicole Miller.As of this academic year, they also have theoption to take part in Exeter Explorations,Thanksgiving break excursions that allowthem close-up views of Silicon Valley start-ups and New York City-based nonprofits,as well as participation in the NationalOutdoor Leadership School in Arizona. Some students have also participated in

the Punahou School’s Student GlobalLeadership Institute in Hawaii, while othershave gone on Exeter Social Service Organ-ization non sibi trips that allowed them toteach English in rural China, work at aninclusive arts festival in Ireland, help withmedical issues in a Lakota community inSouth Dakota, and study the impact oftourism on the environment in Costa Rica.“I try to keep at the heart of what we’re

doing the idea that any off-campus tripsare combining our founding document’sgoals of developing knowledge and good-ness,” Page says. “I want to be sure thatwhat we do works with our own emphasison the Harkness method of discussion-based learning and on student ownershipof the experience, and also that we’redeveloping students’ capacity for connec-

Table Talk with Eimer Page(continued from page 11)

tion, empathy and goodness. Then I thinkwe’re going to be on the right track.”In the long run, Page’s goal is for the

entire Exeter community to have a clearunderstanding of the programs and theirpurposes. Other than not having a programin place yet in the Arabic-speaking world—something that’s next on Page’s agenda—thelack of awareness may be the biggest weak-ness toward continuing to nurture and growExeter’s global outreach. Page says she regu-larly speaks to parents and alumni/ae andnotes that they’re often surprised to learn justhow expansive the school’s reach is.“I told the Trustees that there are other

schools that are doing a lot like this,” saysPage, ever the musician, “and they’re verycapable of playing their own trumpets. Butwe have an entire orchestra playing hereand we don’t make much of it!”


Memorial Minute

“Be economical in using words. . . . Long-windedness tires thereader and causes him to lose interest.”—from Good Writing: AnInformal Manual of Style by Alan H. Vrooman

As we begin writing this Memorial Minute, we are mind-ful of what Alan himself would say to us: Be brief, keep itprecise and simple. And so shall we try, but it is impossible

to be brief when reviewing a life so long, so full of accomplish-ment and so well documented in Alan’s own precise prose, the lifeof a man who was not only an honored English teacher but avisionary educator as well. It is more wist-ful than whimsical to recognize how fittingit would be if Alan could write his ownMinute. But his death on April 21, 2012stilled his writing hand; the last of the firstgeneration of Harkness teachers was nolonger with us.

Alan Haswell Vrooman was bornalmost a century ago, on June 2, 1913. Hegrew up in Patchogue, NY, where heattended the public schools into histeenage years. He then matriculated atMercersburg Academy, from which hegraduated in 1930. He went on to Prince-ton to receive, in 1934, a B.A. in English, magna cum laude, fol-lowed in 1940 by a Ph.D., with an emphasis on 18th-centuryprose and a dissertation on the work of Laurence Sterne. In themeantime Alan had, in 1937, become a member of Phillips ExeterAcademy’s English Department, where he taught for the next 41years, excepting a hiatus of five years while he served in the U.S.Navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander.

At Exeter, Alan performed, conscientiously, his responsibilitiesin the three classrooms of boarding school life: residential, athlet-ic and academic. He began his dormitory career in Peabody,moved to Webster and then to Soule, where he remained for 13years, serving as dorm head for the final seven. In the fall of 1969,he and his wife, Lois, moved into their own house on FolsomStreet, where they lived until Lois’ death in 1994.

All the while, Alan was becoming a coaching legend in theworld of high school lacrosse. Although a newcomer to the game,in his freshman year at Princeton he had won the position of start-ing close defenseman. In his senior year, his team had gone unde-feated with a tie against Navy. Once at Exeter he became assistantcoach to Bob Kesler ’47 (Hon.); P’58, P’60, P’67. When Keslerstepped down, Alan took over as head coach and recorded in thenext nine years an amazing record of 77-9-3, his teams going unde-feated in three of those years. But such was his love of the game thateven after he stepped down as head coach in 1961, he continued

coaching at the club level for five more years, committed to devel-oping young players who would strengthen the varsity.

Alan was a demanding English teacher, always prepared, alwayscomprehensive, always ready to praise a student for work well doneor fault a student for careless or insipid work. His physical andmental stature were so imposing that he intimidated some students,awed others, inspired still others. But he knew them well, protect-ing and encouraging the timid or tentative, stimulating the confi-dent, challenging the intellectually arrogant. He sought inparticular to make sure that his students’ understanding of litera-

ture was not constrained by stale ideas orrote formulae, wanting to free them fromwhat one of Alan’s colleagues once referredto as “the dreary pursuit of ‘deep, hiddenmeaning.’ ” To that end he was not aboveexpressing an occasional literary irrever-ence, as when he called poems “contrap-tions,” a description that surely challengedany of his students’ preconceptions.

In 1966 Alan’s academic profile greweven larger with the publication of GoodWriting: An Informal Manual of Style. Alertto what one would now call “writingacross the curriculum,” he saw his book as

serving schoolwide. And characteristically he knew just what hewanted: “The student needs something for handy reference. . . .[The manual] should not discourage the student by its ponderous-ness or complexity; it should invite frequent use, not a singlethumbing through.” Over subsequent years it informed many stu-dents, and some faculty members, as they sought to avoid a dan-gling participle here or construct a periodic sentence there. Thebook was, as Alan had promised, “detailed without being finicky.”

As chair of the English Department, Alan defended both hisdiscipline and his colleagues with a conservative’s zeal. Writing toAssistant Principal Kesler, he declared that the “primary needs ofthe English Department were met by books, writing materials,and the teacher’s ability to stimulate student activity with same.”Each teacher should have his own classroom, he insisted, and nomore than 50 students. Later, when he realized that class size wascreeping over the average of 13, Alan reared his leonine head andwrote a manifesto to the administration decrying this turn ofevents, declaring it unreasonable and educationally unsound forstudent and teacher alike. Before he sent the letter, he read it tothe English Department; never an easy audience, this body onthat occasion produced prolonged applause. Alan was, at thatmoment, a hero to his troops.

In April of 1967 Alan published an article in the Bulletin enti-tled “Educational Research at Exeter,” in which he wrote the

Alan H. Vrooman ’50, ’52 (Hon.)WOODBRIDGE ODLIN PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, EMERITUS ( 1 9 1 3 – 2 0 1 2 )

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following: “The educational process is like an iceberg in thatonly about a tenth of it shows above the surface in the form ofacademic achievement (grades, diplomas, college admission). Toimprove education, educators need to know much more of thesubmerged nine-tenths.” He went on to highlight various areasof Exeter’s educational program that wanted greater understand-ing, asking many questions that resonate still, among them: Whatmakes some students successful and others unsuccessful, andwhat is the proper definition of success? What is the effect of aca-demic overload and of pressures regarding college admissions?What are the qualities that make for student leadership? What isthe relationship of leisure time and unorganized activity to stu-dent growth and development? In a word, Alan looked to the future with the eye of a visionary.

“I am not a gadget man,” he wrote to Kesler, “but we cannotignore technology entirely. We should have one experimental Eng-lish classroom equipped with all the latest stuff that may prove use-ful.” In that same letter he urged the addition to the faculty of a“learning specialist”; the introduction to the curriculum of ceram-ics and modern dance; the expansion of off-campus learningopportunities; and the founding of an Office of Research and Cur-riculum Development. Also, in his position as chair of the EnglishDepartment, he welcomed into its curriculum a new course, Dra-matics 28. “I . . . find it highly ironic,” he wrote, “that I, the mostundramatic fellow in the world, have become [this course’s] pro-ponent—indeed, its defender.” But defend it he did and, with thatkey support, drama came into the curriculum of the school.In the meantime Alan submitted to the faculty “An Early

Diploma Plan,” a significant proposal that would make it possiblefor qualified students to graduate in the middle of their senioryear. The plan meant that yearlong courses, the standard fordecades, would be replaced by semester-long courses. Surely asimportant for Alan, it meant that the English Department wouldgive up the requirement that a student take English for his entiresenior year. Alan wanted graduates of PEA to have a chance toexperience the world in different ways before going on to college,to generate in them a sense of purpose and a personal commit-ment to matters outside the usual curriculum. “The zeal withwhich youngsters would face the world,” he wrote, “educatorssubvert by piling on academic work and increasing the level ofabstraction. Teachers encourage the questioning attitude but allowlittle time for working out the practical answers, for applying whathas been learned to the major problems of existence.” The facul-ty was persuaded, and for some years Phillips Exeter graduated asignificant number of students in January as well as in June. Logis-tical problems doomed the enterprise, but the Academy’s aca-demic calendar was permanently changed, and its outlook as well.A related enterprise was a new course, Romanticism and

Rationalism, which Alan and six colleagues from different depart-ments taught to 26 students in the second semester of 1969–70.The course was designed to “enable students to relate theirlearning in the different disciplines experienced at Exeter.” Itwas Exeter’s first Senior Studies course, and it was clearly ambi-tious. Alan himself recognized that it was probably too ambitious;his report, written in the summer of 1970, outlines in great detailthe failures as well as the successes of the course. But the latterwere such that Alan concluded, “We recommend the continua-tion of interdisciplinary courses.” Characteristically, he remained

optimistic regarding the potential of something new. Predictably, Alan was not always easy. He knew his own mind,

and he did not want for confidence. For example, speaking in apre-school meeting in which the teachers of senior English wereto compare notes on their plans for the semester, Alan laid out abeautifully intricate syllabus, explaining it in detail, and withapparent relish. Once finished, he looked over the group, paused,and said: “Who’s next?” The silence was thunderous. However,while not outwardly a warm man, Alan was capable of greatkindness. A colleague remembers engaging with Alan in alengthy and heated argument, only to be comforted when Alan,ever respectful of those who believed in themselves, ended theconversation by saying: “You know, I really like you.” To the end of his life, Alan retained both his confidence and his

cleverness. From a lunch for emeriti/ae faculty members, arecently retired member of the English Department remembersthe following scene: “As we entered the Tingleys’ big main livingroom, there was Alan, ensconced in the grand wing chair facingthe door, glass of wine in one hand and plate of food in the other,and as we approached him to pay court, he looked up, feignedconsternation, and said: ‘Don’t tell me you children have retiredalready!’ ” That was the Alan who wrote to Principal Steve Kurtz’44, ’46, ’78, ’87 (Hon.); P’77 that Exeter should not “sit back onits 190-year-old derriere” but should “seriously [question] thebasic structure of our curriculum, which, like Topsy, ‘jes growed.’ ”A grateful former student revealed the influence of such phras-ings, known as Vroomanisms, when, in making a gift to the AlanH. Vrooman Scholarship Fund, said, “. . . no one has left a patternon top of my butter pat that’s quite as obvious as Alan’s.” After his retirement in 1978, Alan devoted most of his time to

the homely tasks of chopping wood at his beloved cottage inNew Harbor, ME, hunting with his colleague and dear friend BillBates, reading, and spending time with his second wife, Tim ’50,’52 (Hon.). It says something of the man that at age 92, he was stillfilling the woodshed with wood chopped by his own sturdy hand.At the same time he was filling, with his meticulous hand, budg-etary ledgers of his quotidian life. “Alan wrote everything down,”Tim says, “even what he had paid for a haircut. And he also knewjust where everything was . . . each of his many books, drafts of hiswriting, plans for trips, just everything.” At one point in theirtravels together, she took a photo of Alan standing before a boatnamed Don’t Give up the Ship. “That was his motto,” she says. Sadly, that attitude brought Alan to endure an excruciatingly

slow physical decline in the last stage of his life. Finally, mercifully,his personal vessel sank, but he died the author of countless influ-ential reports and position papers, the Woodbridge Odlin Profes-sor and chair of the Department of English, emeritus, and anhonorary member of the classes of 1950 and 1952; indeed a grandeducator who for the middle third of the 20th century, was a driv-ing force in the evolution of the school he so loved.

This Memorial Minute was written by Eric Bergofsky ’79 (Hon.); P’98, P’02;

Donald Cole ’49, ’51 (Hon.); P’70, P’72, P’75, P’77; Peter Greer ’58; ’71,

’81, ’83, ’97, ’00 (Hon.); P’81, P’83, P’94; Charles Terry III ’28 (Hon.);

P’80, P’81; and David Weber ’71, ’74 (Hon.); P’92, and was presented at

faculty meeting on September 10, 2012.



Finis Origine Pendet

Musings in NaturePOETRY BY TWO LAMONT YOUNGER POETS

StormBy Grace Yin ’15

Through the shroud of mist,I see a sea of grey,And I wondered whether

I should put my day

Away for another time,But I quickly let it pass

For I had things to do,

But the lofty sea rolled in,Drenching the trees,Swelling the pond,Flooding the earth,

Pulling me into the tideOf its will

Without a chance to thinkAbout where I

TrulyWanted to go.

Once the sea calmed down,I walked back home—

Water soaking into my shoes,And into the damp airI breathe.

BellaBy Sarah Chisholm ’14

There’s something ethereal in the way she movesfawn-like through our garden. Her feet step lightly, carefully threading their way between clumps ofover-zealous dandelions and haughty Queen Anne’s lace. She croons her lullaby full of made up words and whispers and quiet voices that nobody understands.Her fingers brush the flowers as she passes and they dance behind her,the poppies tossing their orange heads to her song.

She hums to the cat that sleeps under the rose bush and he listensbecause something happens when she looks at him.He lets her pull him into her lap and as she rocks him he feelsthe green of her eyes on his black fur.He feels it more than the sharp green moss that tickles his paws andmakes him sneeze.He feels it like sunlight on a murky pond sifting quietly down through

the blanket ofduckweed, glancing off dark fish that flit between the shadows. He feels it like the silk that clings to his whiskers when he walks through

a spider’s web. So he lies there, feeling her green slip down to his skin, tingling its waythrough his muscles and into his bones, so deep that it starts a rumble in

his chest.He purrs, his white lashes drifting together over alligator eyes slipping shut and all she can see when she looks into his face are two lazy

slits of gold.She mumbles to him, her sounds painting the garden. She tells himabout the pale yellow butterfly that sits on a lilac branch and shows off its

wings.She thinks it is vain, and she tells the cat this, because he is wise and

knows something about humility.She wants to know why he won’t chase the squirrels that scold her when

she walks under the walnut tree.She asks if he is too old or too tired or maybe too fatbut he doesn’t answer. He sits there, feeling, and listens.

Editor’s Note: The following poems were written by two of the four studentshonored last year with the Lamont Younger Poets Prize. The award isbestowed annually on student poets in their prep or lower year and wasestablished to honor the late Emeritus Instructor of English Rex McGuinn

and his commitment to encouraging and helping young poets with their craft.McGuinn offered much of that guidance and inspiration from his classroomin Phillips Hall, a building now renewed and equipped to continue as thecreative nexus for student poets and writers alike.

FRED

CA

RLSO

N (2)

The Exeter Bulletin, winter 2013

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Transcript of The Exeter Bulletin, winter 2013