The Exeter Bulletin, summer 2013

The E

xeter Bulletin

Sum

mer 2013

Commencement 2013

SUMMER 2013

Thank you.When you choose to support the Academy, it’s

more than a transaction. It’s a demonstration of

your belief in the value of the Exeter experience

and a direct investment in the lives of our

students and faculty.

On behalf of everyone at Exeter,

thank you.

The Exeter Fund

We couldn’t have said it any better.

1SUMMER 2013 The Exeter Bulletin

Around the Table

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

Director of CommunicationsRobin Giampa

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 EditorsEdouard L. Desrochers Karen Stewart

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, William K. Rawson ’71, Dr.Nina D. Russell ’82, 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, 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

20 | COMMENCEMENT 2013

Pathways traveled together

Address by Principal Thomas E. Hassan, plus photos of the day

28 | LITERATURE OVER LUNCHBreaking down silos with PEA’s Weekly Book ClubBy Lee Behnke, instructor in classical languages and English

4 Around the Table: Faculty appointments, Exeter in Indiaand Israel, curatorial Harkness, and more.

10 Table Talk with Zachary Lehman ’91 and Kendra StearnsO’Donnell

14 Exoniana: A classical way to tell time, and memories ofthe origins of Principal’s Day

17 Exonians in Review: America 1933: The Great Depression, Lorena Hickok, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Shaping of the New Deal by Michael Golay, history instructor. Reviewed by Townsend Ludington ’53

33 Inside the Shell: The art and science behind Exeter Crewby Mike Catano. Plus, spring sports roundup.

38 Connections: News and Notes from the Alumni Community

40 Profiles: Fred Culick ’52, Betsy Williamson ’88 andCindy Chang ’02

108 Memorial Minutes: Charles Pratt ’52, former BennettFellow director, and David Thomas, emeritus chair ofthe Classical Languages Department

112 Finis Origine Pendet: “For I have pressing business toattend.” By Ama Boah ’98

28

V O L U M E C V I I I , N O. 4 S U M M E R 2 0 1 3

Departments

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

COVER: HALEY BAKER ’13 AND VERONICA SCOTT ’13. PHOTO BY CHERYL SENTER.

10

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

20

Graduation Day 2013Seniors, their family and friends, and the Academycommunity gathered together on June 9 to celebratea journey’s end—a rite of passage more than two centuries old at the Academy.

—Photo by Cheryl Senter

The Exeter Bulletin SUMMER 20132

SUMMER 2013 The Exeter Bulletin 3

The View from Here

4 The Exeter Bulletin SUMMER 2013

Around theTableWhat’s new and notable at the Academy

“If, then, it is indeed true that the contemplation of scenery canbe so abundant a source of delight and improvement, a taste forit is certainly worthy of particular cultivation; for the capacity forenjoyment increases with the knowledge of the true means ofobtaining it.” —Thomas Cole, in “Essay on American Scenery,”from the January 1836 American Monthly Magazine 1.

This spring, the Lamont Gallery hosted an exceptionallysuccessful exhibition that featured the private collectionsof four PEA alumni (classes of 1943, 1951 and 1965). What

was distinctive about this exhibition—in addition to the qualityand range of the work on view—was that the planning and execu-t ion of the project was thecuratorial equivalent of a Hark-ness discussion.

Perhaps coincidentally, thisapproach mirrored the develop-ment of the White Mountainsregion itself: Early settlers builtguesthouses and hotels, offeringtourists places to stay, warm mealsand guided visits to the moun-taintops. The works of artists andwr iters such as BenjaminChampney and Nathaniel Hawthorne encouraged yet morepeople to explore the area. Not every aspect of this history was astranquil as it would seem in the paintings, but the desire foradventure, knowledge and spiritual enlightenment was shared byall who made the journey.

Our understanding of the White Mountains has been shapedby this lively assortment of visitors, with their own particularobservations, opinions or relationships to the region. While somevoices, such as the Rev. Thomas Starr King’s, were quite influen-tial, it was the accumulation of every visitor’s voice that con-tributed to the captivating history that we know today.

Luminous Terrain: The Art of the White Mountains also came intobeing as a collective endeavor, incorporating the contributions ofnumerous people and institutions. While it began with one collec-

tor, the concept quickly grew to include three other collectors,united by an affiliation with Exeter and a passion for White Moun-tain paintings. Other voices, from historians to designers, were invit-ed into the discussion, shaping the exhibition in unexpected ways.

Throughout the process, this dynamic and diverse group asked alot of questions. How many paintings? Four or 400? (We settled on44.) How would the paintings be displayed? Stacked “salon style”as was fashionable in centuries past, or did each painting require itsown, albeit small, territory, to allow the visitor to contemplate thesubtleties of brushstroke and color at close range? What resourcesdid the Academy Library offer that we could integrate into the dis-

play? What other programs couldcomplement viewers’ understand-ing of the work? Lectures? Read-ings? Hikes in long skirts tore-create the winter Mount Wash-ington journey of Lucy Craw-ford’s mountaineering daughtersin 1874? We did not lack for ideas,just as early travelers did not lackfor new summits to explore.

“What about this?” was a com-mon starting point for discus-sions, which took place in personand via email and phone, in

kitchens and storage rooms, while driving on New Hampshire’sscenic back roads or inching through rush-hour traffic in down-town Boston. Once the exhibition opened, visitors, too, offeredtheir input and suggestions, and we continued to add elements,such as a map of the region, in response. Much of our time in thegallery was spent talking—exchanging ideas, gaining newinsights, and hearing stories of visitors’ personal encounters withthe landscapes around them.

While not all of our questions were answered during theprocess, and not all of our ideas were implemented, these over-lapping discussions amounted to a deeply rewarding curatorialdialogue. Thank you to all of the many different voices that con-tributed to this rich discussion. It was a process, to paraphraseThomas Cole, well worth cultivating.

Curatorial HarknessMOUNTING L U M I N O U S T E R R A I N : T H E A RT O F T H E W H I T EM O U N TA I N S AT THE LAMONT GALLERYBy Lauren O’Neal, Lamont Gallery director

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The Trustees of the Academy met on campus Wednesday,May 15, through Friday, May 17. On Wednesday, severaltrustees met with members of the Principal’s Staff and aca-

demic department heads as part of an annual evaluation of Princi-pal Tom Hassan. Later that evening, the Trustees gathered for dinnerand conversation.The Trustees began their official meetings Thursday morningwith a report highlighting the Academy’s diversity and equitywork, which is aimed at fostering a caring and connected PEAcommunity.The Trustees then discussed issues related to our alumni andfundraising efforts. Director of Institutional Advancement TedProbert P’12 reported on the changes in The Exeter Fund, a pro-gram that for years has been known as the Annual Giving Fund.Director of Alumni and Parent Relations Harold Brown ’74 out-lined his successful efforts to become better acquainted with Exeterparents in Asian countries.The meeting then turned to a discussion of facilities. Chief ofPlanning and Facilities Roger Wakeman P’09, P’11 updated theTrustees on various projects under construction or being planned.He noted that several summer projects, including the upgrade ofthe steam distribution system on Elliot Street, the Lamont Healthand Wellness Center renovation and the Williams House construc-tion, are proceeding as planned. Other projects being planned for the upcoming months includethe exterior upgrade of Webster Hall and landscaping of the quadbetween Phillips Hall and Wetherell Dining Hall. The trees andplantings in that area will be minimal in accordance with inputreceived from community members. Wakeman also provided briefupdates on planning for summer 2014 work, which will include theinterior of Webster Hall and upgrades to Elm Street Dining Hall.Finally, Wakeman and the Trustees discussed the need to keep inmind master planning for our athletic facilities, especially the agingThompson Cage.The morning meetings concluded with a report from the Invest-ment Committee and a discussion of a letter received from a groupof students calling for the Academy’s divestment in companies thatproduce fossil fuels. Part of Thursday afternoon was devoted to a review of the Acad-emy budgets for the current year and 2013–14. An operating budg-et of $91 million was approved for the 2013–14 academic year.Trustee Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee Tony Down-er ’75; P’06, P’06, P’07 thanked Chief Financial Officer ChrisWejchert for his dedicated service to the Trustees and to the Acad-emy and wished Wejchert success in his new role at The Governor’sAcademy. The afternoon meetings ended with a discussion ofExeter’s three immediate priorities—Intellectual Ambition, Good-ness and Global Exploration—and a review of the progress beingmade in those areas. Principal Hassan stated the need to work withthe community on additional planning around these pillar conceptsand will ask the community for

Trustee Roundup

Blair Brown ’58 and Borden Brown ’56 Staff Excellence AwardsAnita Bailey Facilities Management

Dylan Morrissette Grill

Jeanne Moser Institutional Advancement

Eric Roach Dining Services

Karin Tenney-Helfrich Summer School

The Brown Family Faculty Fund AwardsDavid GulickScience

Nat HawkinsEnglish

Leah Merrill ’93History

Matt MillerEnglish

Fermín Pérez-AndreuModern Languages

Dr. Daniel E. Koshland Jr.’37 Distinguished FacultyAwardsZuming FengMathematics

Tom SimpsonReligion

Dorm Adviser AwardsKwasi BoadiHistory

Christina BreenEnglish

Matt HartnettClassical Languages

George S. Heyer Jr. ’48Teaching Fund AwardsBarbara EggersHistory

Andy Hertig ’57 History

New Teacher AwardsKevin BartkovichMathematics

Nori Down (New Faculty Award)Admissions

Allison DukeTheater and Dance

The Class of 1964 Fund AwardsPat Buxton Facilities Management

Tom French Facilities Management

Deborah Waleryszak Admissions

Diane Wojtkowski Harris Family Children’sCenter

Tobi Zinck Facilities Management

The Rupert Radford Faculty FellowshipAwardsDale BraileMathematics

Gordon CooleLamont Health and Wellness Center, PhysicalEducation

Bill DennehyPhysical Education

Sharon FinleyScience

Lark HammondEnglish

Hobart HardejMathematics

Chris MatlackScience

Faculty and Staff Awards and PrizesThis spring, the following Exeter faculty and staffmembers were recognized for the quality of theirwork and their contributions to the life of the school.

(continued on page 107)

March 26: Majka BurhardtProfessional climber, author and filmmaker

Beginning life as a self-described “wussy kid,” Majka Burhardt saysa “toughen up Majka campaign” by her father awakened withinher an eventual passion for outdoor adventure in remote areas.

The professional climber’s highly energized assembly talkfocused on her journeys to the African countries of Ethiopia andNamibia, where Burhardt not only scaled unclimbed rock faces

but also discovered ways to combinephysical adventure with greater cul-tural awareness, something she terms“Additive Adventure.”

The author of two books, VerticalEthiopia: Climbing Toward Possibility inthe Horn of Africa and Coffee Story:Ethiopia, Burhardt spoke of her desirein 2009 to explore Namibia, the sec-ond least-populated country in Africa,

after seeing images of rock faces there.“It wasn’t just the rocks that excited me,” she said. “I thought,

‘What else could be there?’ It didn’t take me long in my researchto come across photos of the Himba people.” A year later,Burhardt had produced a documentary film, Waypoint Namibia,capturing first ascents and cultural connections with the remote,pastoral tribes.

“Adventure doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” she told students.“You are next to history, you are next to the living of history, andthe living of the day’s reality. . . . [As] adventurers, we can projecta new way to think about the world. If we can share that with theworld, how can we not [do so]?”

Outing Club members and other students joined Burhardtfor lunch in the Latin Study afterward.

March 29: Victoria ArlenGold and silver medalist, London 2012 Paralympic Games

Victoria Arlen, 18, who won gold and silver medals in the Lon-don 2012 Paralympic Games just four years after emerging from

a coma, captured the hearts of theassembled students with her relent-lessly upbeat message of overcomingobstacles, connecting directly withthe students in ways they couldunderstand.

“This is a tough age,” the ExeterHigh School senior said. “We are alltrying to figure out who we are,what we are doing, even what we’re

going to wear. I feel for you! There’s a reason for each and everyone of us being here today.”

At the age of 11, Arlen contracted a rare viral disease that left

her without the use of her legs after two years in a coma. As sherecovered, she began a new athletic career starting with sledhockey, where she made the U.S. Women’s National SledHockey Team after only a few months. In August 2011, encour-aged to restart her swimming career, Arlen set her sights oncompeting in the London 2012 Paralympic Games for TeamUSA. Ultimately, she astounded even her fans with three silvermedals and a gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle as she set aworld record of 1 minute, 13.3 seconds.

At the close of assembly, Arlen taught PEA students her mottofor dealing with life’s obstacles: “Face it. Embrace it. Defy it.Conquer it.”

April 9: Parnian Nazary ’06Program associate, Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum

“Whenever I come to Exeter, I feel like I am coming homebecause it was the first home for me when I left Afghanistan in2004,” Parnian Nazary told students.

She shared the story of her per-sonal journey from the Middle Eastto PEA dur ing assembly, whichwas part of the multiday RobbinsMemorial Symposium.

Nazary told Exonians of a child-hood spent in Pakistani refugeecamps and in Afghanistan under theTaliban, where to be female meantno schooling and no jobs. Nazary

said she relied mainly on her family and her own efforts to keeplearning: “The best I could do was silent resistance. I could onlyfight such ideology through the power of education. My homebecame my school and I became my own teacher. . . . This strongmotivation to learn, born at that time, will live with me forever.”

After the Taliban fell, Nazary returned to Afghan schools as aninth-grader before studying at Exeter.

“I’m very thankful for the support of the Exeter community,”she told students. “When I came to Exeter, I had teachers notonly inside my classes, [but] they were also happy to meet meoutside of class! I spent a lot of time with my teachers and that’swhy some of them are my friends now.”

Today, Nazary is a program associate for the Conflict Preven-tion and Peace Forum at the Social Science Research Council inNew York.

April 19: John LynchNew Hampshire’s 80th governor

When former New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch was CEO ofKnoll Inc., a national furniture manufacturer, he gave everyemployee his home phone number. Later, as governor, he some-times gave his cellphone number to residents.


Around the Table

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

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During a talk made possible bythe Robert H. Mundheim ’50 Lec-ture Fund, Lynch, who served asgovernor for four terms (2004–12),focused on the similarities and dif-ferences between public- and pri-vate-sector leadership. “You need to earn the trust of

the people with whom you work,”he said. “As governor, every morn-

ing [when] I woke up I thought about going out and earningthe trust of the people of New Hampshire.” His role at Knollwas no different. Hired to turn around a company losing $50million a year, he said, “It wasn’t until I had earned the trust ofthe people that I saw the company turning and ultimatelybecoming very profitable.” Lynch also addressed the challenges of decision-making in the

public sector, where he had 400 state representatives, 24 state sen-ators and five executive councilors, “each of whom wanted to beinvolved in every decision I made, however big or small.” Yet, he added, “I absolutely loved being governor. It really

does give you the opportunity to make a difference in the lives ofother people.”After assembly, Lynch met with two classes and had lunch

with students.

April 23: Nicholas KristofAuthor and award-winning columnist, The New York Times

Nicholas Kristof spent two days on PEA’s campus, meeting withstudents, presenting at assembly and delivering an evening talk.Kristof, who travels the world to investigate issues of human

rights, health, education, poverty andgender inequality, spoke about hiswork as a journalist and his book,Half the Sky: Turning Oppression intoOpportunity for Women Worldwide, co-authored with his wife, SherylWuDunn. At assembly, Kristof told stories

about his exper iences workingabroad—some humorous, such as

finding a listening device planted in his apartment in China, andmany others focused on his work to fight oppression againstwomen and girls. “There are incredible ways we can help other people,” said

Kristof, encouraging Exonians to take part in community serviceprojects, and to learn about diverse cultures directly throughwork and educational experiences abroad.Kristof was warmly welcomed by the student board and fac-

ulty advisers of Exeter’s student newspaper, The Exonian, whohosted him, as well as the Selected Topics in Religion class, whichfocuses on New York Times best-sellers. In stories that traveled theglobe—from Tiananmen Square to Steubenville, OH—Kristofspoke to Exonians with empathy and experience. His visit was sponsored by the Richard and Joan S. Strickler

Exonian Fund.

April 26: N. Gregory MankiwRobert M. Beren Professor of Economics, Harvard University

A generational conflict is in the works—between you and theaging baby boomers. That was the message of N. GregoryMankiw, head of Harvard’s Department of Economics and for-mer chairman of President George W. Bush’s Council of Eco-

nomic Advisers, at assembly. People are living longer and hav-

ing fewer children, leading to anincreasing elderly share of the popu-lation and a concomitant increase incosts to government-funded retire-ment and health care programs,Mankiw explained. “Who is going to have to pay for

these programs?” Mankiw asked.“You are. . . . The question is, what do we do about it? Spend less?Tax more? The big generational conflict is to what extent we aregoing to do those two things.” Mankiw detailed several strategies to show that, from an

economist’s point of view, the result may not necessarily bewhat’s expected. “A lot of preventative care is a good thing but isnot going to save us money,” he said, citing smoking. While stop-ping smoking is good for health reasons, it increases health carecosts overall because “smokers tend to die young,” which savesmoney on Social Security and Medicare. “Don’t smoke!” he toldExonians, for your health, not economics.During his two-day visit to campus, Mankiw also met with

three classes and gave a public evening lecture titled “The FiscalChallenges Ahead.” Mankiw’s visit was sponsored by the HotchkisVisitors Program, established by Preston B. Hotchkis ’47.

May 10: John Hays ’78Deputy chairman of Christie’s

On campus for his 35th reunion, John Hays, deputy chairman ofChristie’s, regaled his audience atassembly with stories about the auc-tion house’s most historic sales ofAmerican art.Hays detailed the meticulous

work of art historians who researcheach auction item, illustrating hispoint with the discovery of theJoseph and Bathsheba Pope valuablescabinet. Christie’s staff, after nights

poring over the archives, assigned a 1679 date to the piece andplaced it in Salem, MA—in the midst of the infamous witch tri-als. The cabinet went on to sell for more than $2.4 million. He also gave an insider’s view into the story behind the $6.7

million auction of a 1770s Philadelphia tea table. Hays’ Christie’steam won out over an offer from a competing auctioneer byarriving unannounced at the owner’s home with a moving van,which just happened to be fully equipped and ready to whisk thetable away to New York City, pending the owner’s approval.“The moral: You can will yourself to [do] anything,” Hays

told students.


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In March, Academy community members trav-eled eastward to two different countries and akaleidescope of cultural experiences—a reflection

of the Academy’s mission to expand opportunities forglobal exploration and learning.

IsraelTwelve faculty members representing 10 different aca-demic and administrative departments on campus,traveled to Israel and journeyed through urban andremote areas of the country—from the Western Walland the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalemnorthward to the Sea of Galilee and the GolanHeights. The faculty not only visited sites of historicaland cultural significance but also spoke with everydaycitizens in the regions they visited, as well as politi-cians, journalists, academics, tour guides and commu-nity leaders. The experience made lasting impressions,as expressed below:

“Our immersion into the complexities of religion,culture, history and politics provoked deep questions,self-corrections and insights at every turn. We metwith a Jerusalem city councilwoman who is a modernOrthodox Jewish feminist. We stood at the foot of themassive wall separating Jerusalem from Bethlehem,and my stomach turned as an endless line of Palestin-ian workers streamed on foot through a checkpoint,only to begin another phase of their long commute.

We stood on a lookout near thevineyards and waterfalls of spectac-ular Golan Heights, looking intosouthern Syria, a nation that mayno longer exist. I was moved totears by the children’s memorial atYad Vashem (the Israeli Holocaustmuseum) and the Yitzhak Rabinmuseum. Then the same tearsflowed as a Palestinian woman, ahigh school English teacher, told usshe was getting ready to teach ‘TheRoad Not Taken.’ I walked in thefootsteps of Jesus in Jerusalem andthe Sea of Galilee, and I walked inthe footsteps of Madonna in theholy city of Safed, the mystic birth-place of Kabbalah. I sang my almamater’s fight song in the Romanamphitheater at Caesarea (in the

footsteps of Dylan, Clapton and Baez!), and I glimpsedthe gorgeous intimacy of Jaffa’s mosques, churches,synagogues, cafes, market stalls and artists’ studios onthe Mediterranean. Then I remembered that just a fewmiles away, Palestinian children are growing to be 10,15, 20 years old without ever seeing that sea….I can-not express how grateful I am to have had the chanceto take this journey with so many wonderful col-leagues. We have become much closer to one another,and our enduring closeness and passion are bound tohave a remarkable ripple effect on our community inthe months and years to come.”

—Religion Instructor Tom Simpson

IndiaIndia was the destination for Exeter’s first student-faculty co-learning trip. Ten students and 10 facultymembers spent two weeks together touring NewDelhi, Varanasi and smaller towns like Santiniketan,in West Bengal. Along the way, they met tribal vil-lagers, high school students and teachers, tour guidesand Indian citizens—exper iencing the culturethrough these different lenses as well as through theirown impressions. Several trip members cast theirreflections into poems or essays written as the tripconcluded. Others captured the people and places invivid photography. All returned to Exeter and sharedthese transformative experiences with the broadercommunity, which culminated in an evening presen-


Around the Table

Eastern ExposureFACULTY AND STUDENTS SPEND SPRING BREAK IN AS IA

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Around the Table

tation and exhibit in May atthe Academy Library. One stu-dent shared an experience shehad in Delhi:

“One day, while we were wait-ing outside a restaurant forlunch, a little boy walked up tome. Now in India I had alreadyexperienced children approach-ing me and begging for food ormoney, but this boy was differ-ent. He was holding a woodentoolkit with polish and cloth init and asked, ‘Ma’am may I pol-ish your shoes?’ Then he place his toolkit on the ground and kneltdown in front of me. I couldn’t help but feel that this little boywas lowering himself in front of me, almost as if he were part ofthe ground I walked on. He always kept his eyes down, neverlooking me in the eyes. I was heartbroken. I didn’t want to leavehim, though I also didn’t want my canvas shoes polished, soinstead I sat down with him. We probably looked like quite aspectacle in the middle of a parking lot. He surely looked con-fused at my actions.

His name was Hashim. He was 10. I asked if he was in school,but he didn’t answer, simple looked down at his livelihood sittingin front of him. I tried to ask about his family, but I had reachedthe language barrier. I wanted to do something for Hashim, butI knew that giving to the street children was ill-advised. I

remembered the necklaces I had bought earlier. I had 20, and Isure didn’t need that many so I gave Hashim a black one. I alsoremember a Coke I had been given earlier, so I took that out,opened it and gave it to him. I could see the smile forming. Butsoon I had to leave Hashim. In the few moments I spent withhim, he taught me something. That if I can make someone smileor happy maybe for only a few minutes, then I have accom-plished something. It’s a small gesture but it truly does count.

The poverty in India is shocking. The [number] of childrenbegging for food and money on the streets is absolutelyappalling.... And we are the people who have the capabilities tochange this…for the children like Hashim in the world. NowHashim didn’t talk much, but I surely heard his voice.

—Madison Firkey ’14

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Two Lacrosse Players Named Under Armour All-AmericansSeniors Chris Keating and Matt Ryan, members ofPEA’s boys varsity lacrosse this spring, werenamed to the Under Armour All-America Game,which was played on July 6 at Towson University’sJohnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, MD. Only 44 ofthe nation’s top male high school seniors earn thesport’s most prestigious honor. Under Armour All-Americans are selected by a panel of lacrosseexperts at Inside Lacrosse magazine. The yearlongprocess includes input from college and highschool coaches from across the country. Keatingwill attend Yale in the fall, and Ryan will competeagainst him when he takes to the field for Harvard.

Longtime coach and Mathematics InstructorEric Bergofsky ’79 (Hon.); P’98, P’02 enjoyed hav-ing these two players on his team during his finalseason. Bergofsky retired from coaching in May,after 36 years, to dedicate more time to his newrole as chair of the Mathematics Department.

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(Left) Matt Ryan ’13 on the offensive against a St. Sebastian School player.(Right) Chris Keating ’13 defends against a Northfield Mount Hermon player.


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From One Principal to AnotherTABLE TALK WITH KENDRA STEARNS O ’DONNELL AND ZACHARY LEHMAN ’ 9 1 By Susannah Clark ’84

In his first year as headmaster at The Hill School, a coeducational boarding school of 512 sec-ondary school students in Pottstown, PA, Zachary Lehman ’91 has—like most new headmas-ters—dealt with “a number of issues on the table,” from fundraising to iPads in the classroom to

a hurricane strike, and he’s had to tackle them without the benefit of prior experience to guide him.But Lehman, who took the helm last fall, hasn’t gone it alone. Soon after his appointment, he

picked up the phone and called Exeter Principal Emerita Kendra Stearns O’Donnell ’31, ’47, ’63,’91, ’97 (Hon.); P’00, to ask if she would mentor him. In her decade at Exeter (1987–97), O’Don-nell implemented significant changes and weathered her share of administrative trials, experience shecould offer to Lehman.

“I can turn to her for anything, from finance to fundraising to student life to academics tospiritual life,” Lehman says. “She always has an anecdote or experience that’s relevant,

[like,] ‘Let me tell you the storyabout the PottingShed at Exeter.’ Shehas r ight-on-the-money, great advicethat usually confirmsmy instinct. Sheallows me to vent,

and then says, ‘Now let’stalk about what you should reallydo.’ ”This relationship began infor-

mally when Lehman was applyingfor headmaster positions. He was notan obvious candidate; he first workedas an attorney after graduating fromHarvard Law School and then

spent six years at Gould Academy inBethel, ME, as assistant head of schoolfor advancement. “Any search com-mittee would be taking a risk withhim; part of his background wouldn’t

match what they would be looking for,” O’Donnell observes. “Ihelped him think through some of the questions he could expect and where to look in his

own experience for the answers.”When he began at The Hill, Lehman formalized the relationship with O’Donnell. “Many people

said, ‘Make sure you get a good coach, someone you can turn to outside the school for advice,’ ” hesays. “There’s not exactly a Yellow Pages for headmaster coaches, but I really thought that [Kendra’s]experience—having come to Exeter as a younger, nontraditional, first female headmaster—would behelpful to me. I knew how much she had accomplished there, and I had a nice rapport with her.”

“I thought it was a great idea,” O’Donnell agrees. “I liked Zack, and I was pleased that he hadlanded at The Hill—exactly the kind of school that I thought would be a great fit for him, a reallysolid place but facing challenges. And I thought I would have something to contribute because Iunderstand, I have experience, and I want to share it.”

For instance, O’Donnell says, “Zack felt he couldn’t wait around to make things happen. But I askedhim to take a step back: To solve all the issues may take a bit longer than (continued on page 107)

Albert Chu ’13 Named U.S. Presidential ScholarAlbert Chu, of Exeter, NH, was one of 141 U.S. highschool seniors chosen by the U.S. Department ofEducation as a 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholar. Thehonor recognizes Chu’s outstanding academicachievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizen-ship, service, and contribution to school and com-munity. Initially, he was one of 3,000 graduatingseniors and 560 semifinalists who qualified for this

award, based on SAT and ACT scores and nomina-tions through the National Young Arts Foundation. Chu and the other scholars were awarded Presi-

dential Scholars Medallions in June during a ceremo-ny sponsored by the White House. Earlier this year,Chu was also the recipient of a record 19 awardsgiven by the 2013 National Scholastic Art and Writ-ing Awards.


Dean of Faculty Ron Kimannounced the following sixfaculty member appoint-

ments to endowed teaching positions:Science Instructor Townley

Chisholm P’10, P’11, P’14 is now theIndependence Foundation Distin-guished Professor. This award wascreated to honor a long-standing fac-ulty member recognized as amongthe Academy’s most esteemed teach-ers. Chisholm, who earned his B.A.from Harvard University and hisM.Sc. from Pembroke College(Oxford), came to the Academy in1994. Mathematics Instructor Stephanie

Girard P’13 is the John E. and MaryE. Smith Memorial DistinguishedProfessor in Mathematics, created tosupport “an accomplished senior fac-ulty member from the MathematicsDepartment.” Girard is recognizedfor her high standard of scholarshipand teaching and her success in men-toring the Academy’s young faculty.Girard joined the faculty in 1986, andearned her B.A. from Boston Collegeand her M.A. from the University of Virginia.Brooks Moriarty ’87, an instructor in English since 2008, is

the Barton Evans and H. Andrea Neves Instructor in theHumanities. Established in 2004 by Neves and Evans ’66, thisaward honors an early or midcareer member of the teaching fac-ulty who plays a multidimensional role at Exeter. Moriartyearned his B.A. from Yale University, and his M.A. and Ph.D.(ABD) from the University of Virginia.Modern Languages Instructor Viviana Santos P’17 is the new

Robert W. Kesler ’47 (Hon.) Distin-guished Professor in Modern Lan-guages. Established by the class of1947 on its 40th reunion, theappointment is awarded to an excep-tional Modern Languages instructor.Before joining the Academy’s facultyin 2001, Santos taught French, Span-ish and Italian at public and inde-pendent schools, as well as at theuniversity level. She earned a B.S.from Georgetown University, anM.A. and M.S.Ed. from MiddleburyCollege and the University of Penn-sylvania, respectively, and her Ph.D.from Rutgers University.Masami Stahr P’11, P’14, an

instructor in mathematics since2008, is the Smith Family Instructorin Mathematics. Endowed in 2006,this position was established by for-mer Trustee Rick Smith ’66 to sup-port an exceptional early-careerinstructor in mathematics who hasdemonstrated particular promise inscholarship, student guidance andinvolvement in Academy life. Stahrearned a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from

George Mason University. Science Instructor Tanya Waterman is the Alfred Hayes ’25

and Jean M. Hayes Teaching Chair in Science. This endowedposition is awarded to a Science Department member who hasserved fewer than 10 years and fosters enthusiasm for science,coupled with a genuine interest in and love for the students.Waterman earned a B.Sc. from the University of Thessaloniki,Greece, and a M.Sc. from Brown University. She began teachingat Exeter in 2004.

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Campus Life at a GlanceSnapshots from spring term (A) Twisting for a cause at the annual Relay for Life.About 700 people attended the event, and all proceeds go to the Ameri-can Cancer Society. (B) Exonians work on the ice rink as one of the 75

Community Action Day proj-ects undertaken by studentsand faculty in April. (C) Armedwith colored water and pow-ders, Exonians douse eachother to celebrate Holi, theHindu holiday that marks thearrival of spring. (D) Brave per-formers give their all duringthe Student Council’s annualspring talent show. (E) In June,students ran to beat the worldrecord for fastest mile with flip-pers. The results have been sub-

mitted to Guinness World Records forformal review. (F) Good weathermakes for watery fun during the tra-ditional senior skip day. (G) Hand-shakes conclude the annual softballgame between Facilities Managementemployees and the JV baseball teamafter Facilities Management capturedthe trophy. (H) Elegantly attired sen-iors greet paparazzi while waiting todepart for the prom.

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For portions of five decades, Susan Herney ’69, ’74, ’83 (Hon.) servedExeter as a leading voice for inclusion and an advocate for change. Inrecognition of her lifetime of service to Exeter, Herney received the 2013

Founder’s Day Award at a special assembly on May 17.During her 19 years in the Dean of Students Office (1972–91), Herney advo-

cated for female students and faculty, pushed for cultural inclusivity and helpedsmooth Exeter’s transition to coeducation. When she became Exeter’s firstfemale dean of students in 1985, Herney instituted training on adolescent devel-opment for faculty and programs to support students who struggled academical-ly or socially. Her actions helped guide Exeter’s shift in the 1970s and ’80s froman austere institution to a nurturing school that sought to educate and preparethe whole student.

In the Dean of Students Office and as the head of five dorms, Herney becameknown as a role model who held students to high standards of behavior, yet dideverything with a sense of kindness and compassion thattouched the lives of many.

Always willing to serve, Herney took on other leadershippositions after concluding her term as dean. In a seven-yearstint with the Office of Alumni Affairs and Development,Herney built the Academy’s stewardship program and over-saw the use of hundreds of Exeter’s endowed funds. In 1998,she moved to Admissions as associate director and expandedExeter’s travel program in an effort to attract students frommore diverse backgrounds.

During her career, Herney worked continually to build upothers. In seeking to enhance the status of women, adding warmth to the rigorous aca-demic life, stewarding gifts to the Academy, and searching out talented students “fromevery quarter,” Herney exemplified the spirit of non sibi in every position she held.

Exeter Honors Susan Herney withFounder’s Day Award

Baseball Dugouts Named in Honor of Bill DennehyRetiring head coach’s 42 years reflected in tribute

Watch theFounder’s DayAward assemblyand read Herney’sfull remarks atwww.exeter.edu/bulletinextras.

It rained hard enough on May 25 topostpone the baseball game betweenExeter and Andover during E/A week-end. (Exeter would go on to beat BigBlue 6-2 the following Wednesday.)But the weather didn’t stop students,alumni, and family and friends ofPhysical Education Instructor BillDennehy P’90, P’92 from gathering inthe Cage to celebrate his 42 years atthe Academy. Dennehy was honoredat a dedication ceremony that for-mally named the new baseball dugouts located in theadjacent field as the “Dennehy Dugouts.” Dennehy, who also coached boys varsity hockey and

soccer for many years, retired at the end of the academic

year, closing out his final baseballseason as head coach with a 13-7record and his varsity team asquarterfinalists in the CentralNew England Prep School Base-ball Championship. Reflecting onhis tenure, Dennehy says, “To beso involved managing and coach-ing, it’s always been exciting. Ilove it. It’s that fun of being in achess match: being patient, yetalso being ready to go.”

A Wiffle ball game held in the Cage following the ded-ication was enjoyed by Dennehy, a coach who—as the newdugouts’ signs note—“mentored and inspired Big Redathletes” for more than four decades.

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Exoniana DO YOU REMEMBER?

The sundial in this photograph was installed on campus in1925. It currently stands near a pathway and dormitory. Canyou identify its location? Perhaps you can tell us somethingabout it, or about life in the dorm it stands near?

There will be two prizes awarded at random from theanswers received.

Email us at [email protected]. Or, send your respons-es to Exoniana, c/o The Exeter Bulletin, Phillips Exeter Acad-emy, Communications Office, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH03833-2460. Entries may be edited for length and clarity.

Answers to the spring 2013 issue: Exonian memories of Principal’s Day, orSt. Gurdon’s Day as it was first known,included crooning PEADQUACS, FerrisBueller’s Day Off at the IOKA theater, anda voice mail from the principal during thefirst year of telephones in dorm rooms.This year, on May 1, Principal Hassanopted for people to discover their good“fortune” during lunchtime.

Our two winners are:R.D. Boyd Harman ’58, Glenview, IL, whoreceived an Exeter pen.“The whole approach to ‘Principal’s

Day,’ now a ‘spring surprise’ event, haschanged greatly from the ‘St. Gurdon’sDay’ that existed in the 1950s. At thattime, there was no advance alert (themethods of which incidentally sound verycreative!). Rather, Principal Saltonstall’24 would announce it (or not announceit, as the case might be) at the end of

Morning Chapel on the very day. Andthat day was invariably in Feb-ruary—a cold day, with lots ofsnow on the ground. Noforward planning, but anenjoyable respite fromthe midwinter grindnonetheless. “I should men-tion that the

IOKA theater wasstrictly off-limits to Ex-onians when I was there. We saw our moviesin the gym on Saturday evenings, courtesyof projectionist Darcy Curwen (and actuallythere were some real classics!). No radioswere permitted in your room either. But onthe other hand, every dorm had a ‘buttroom’ dedicated for the use of smokers. Gofigure. Times have changed!”

Dr. Joseph E. “Joe” Sundeen ’60, Yardley,PA, who received an Exeter pen.“I do indeed have fond memories of St.

Gurdon’s Day, which was a little differentfrom Principal’s Day. We did not in facthave a day to plan for our holiday inmidwinter. The Academy would

assemble as usual at 8 a.m. withthe usual rustling of whis-

pers and coughs, but asthe days passed intothe month ofJanuary with nomention from

Salty, we began todespair that this mightbe the year that he dis-

continued what had become abeloved tradition. But then a daymidweek in January would dawnwith bright, clear-blue skies, andexpectations would rise to a feverpitch. With bated breath, wewould wait for our principal torise from his chair and approachthe podium. He would staresolemnly out at us, and then break

into a huge radiant grin and at once pan-demonium would ensue and we would allbolt for the doors. As a day student living14 miles away, in Raymond, I quickly ranfor a pay phone to call my father, who hadleft for his building supply store only a fewminutes earlier, to announce the greatnews. As soon as he received the message,he would load the car up with skis andpoles and boots and ski pants, and headback to Exeter. We would then take off fora day of skiing and thorough enjoyment ofthe ‘unexpected’ break in the routine. Thememory of Salty, with his white hair andbushy eyebrows and infectious grin, willstay with me always. And so will the mem-ory of my father on those magic days; forthe ‘unexpected’ break was good news forhim as well, giving him an excuse to givehimself a day off.”

No Principal’s DayIn 1943, we not only had no Principal’sDay but also no girls.

John B. Pepper ’43; P’72Jackson, NH

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Last to KnowCertainly, I was about the last to learn of“St. Gurdon’s” Day. Principal Saltonstallannounced it in Chapel one day in themid-winter of my upper year and, appar-ently, he never shared his idea with any-one. Not even the faculty.

I was a scholarship boy and worked inthe Academy kitchens (assistant to thedishwasher) and as such, I was excusedfrom Chapel. At the appointed time, Itook off my white coat, hung it up andwent off to my 8:25 a.m. class. I don’tremember what it was but I believe that itwas up in Phillips Hall. I believe that theinstructor was Mr. Jones.

As every day, I arrived at or about classtime, as did Mr. Jones. (He did not go toChapel either.) And nobody else! We werebaffled. Neither of us had the slightest clueabout what was going on. Looking outthe window, there was no sign of studentsscurrying from the Academy Building toclass or to the Post Office. The quadranglewas deserted!

We were afraid to just leave. Finally, weheard the sounds of some faculty memberscoming into the department room downthe hall and Mr. Jones went down to learnthe answer. When he came back and toldme, it was the first I’d heard of St. Gur-don’s Day. Since I was one of the class bellringers, I knew there was one thing forsure that I would not have to do that day.

Principal Saltonstall was right and noone (certainly not the students) had anyobjections. Campus morale was lower thana snake’s belly. It seemed that over half thestudent body was on the Infirmary list. TheLamont Infirmary was full, as was theInfirmary Annex, and the overflow wereconfined to their rooms. We had lost toAndover—big! The usual walkway passinggreeting had changed from “Hi!” to“Doi” (with no exclamation point). Ibelieve that the sudden announcementwas the most important part of St. Gur-don’s Day.

Lawrence B. “Larry” Clark ’53 Wilsonville, AL

Singing AnnouncementThe only announcement I remember wasdone by the PEADQUACS in the dininghall.

Ian Crew ’92Berkeley, CA

Telephone MessageVoice mail from Principal Kendra StearnsO’Donnell the first year we had phones inour rooms. It was awesome.

Isobel A. “Abby” Ridge Anderson ’97Frederick, MD

A Day at the MoviesI thought the picture [in photo (A)] wasfrom my senior year, class of ’99. Theyannounced it on the IOKA sign and thenrented the theater for us and played FerrisBueller’s Day Off.

Nicole M. Taylor ’99Tucson, AZ

Breaking NewsMy Principal’s Day was actually the pic-ture [in (A)]! The IOKA sign broke thenews. Stay classy.

Sarah L. Callender ’05Bath, ME

Letters to the Editor A Different Perspective Lindsey Mead Russell’s review (Spring2013 Bulletin) of Shani Boianjiu’s newnovel, The People of Forever Are Not Afraid,caught my eye because most of the book isset in the Israeli military, an institution Imyself have observed in detail during thesix-plus months I’ve spent over the lastdecade in the West Bank and the GazaStrip. Ms. Russell ’92 writes that Boianjiu’05 “beautifully evokes life at the border’scheckpoints.” In my opinion, that state-ment needs a couple of clarifications. First,most of the checkpoints described in thenovel, like the vast majority of Israel’scheckpoints, are not in fact on any border,but well within the West Bank—Palestinianterritory that Israel occupies in defiance ofinternational law, multiple United Nations

resolutions, and even nominal UnitedStates policy. The purpose of these check-points is not to defend Israel from invasionor infiltration, but to restrict the movementof the Palestinian population. (For details,visit the website of the Israeli human-rightsgroup B’Tselem, www. btselem.org.)

As to the life Boianjiu evokes, it’sstrictly the life of young Israeli soldiers—their boredom, their neuroses, and theirhormones. To judge by the novel, neitherthe author nor her characters have any realfeel for or interest in the lives of the peo-ple they lord it over. In fact, Palestiniansscarcely appear in the book, except occa-sionally as thieves, would-be assassins, or,in one particularly appalling chapter (theone The New Yorker chose to print), as sim-pletons staging a demonstration not todemand their rights, but only in hopes ofprovoking enough violence from theirmasters to get them into the newspapers.

Anyone interested in a more realisticperspective on what the occupying armyreally does—albeit not from a PEAalum—should check out another recentmemoir by an Israeli veteran, NoamChayut’s The Girl Who Stole My Holocaust,or a moving collection of video state-ments by women vets, roughly peers ofBoianjiu and her characters, collected bythe Israeli veterans’ organization Breakingthe Silence and posted at www.break-ingthesilence.org.il.

Henry Norr ’64Berkeley, CA

Note of ThanksI wish to express my profound apprecia-tion to those who gathered at FenwayPark in Boston to hear an abridged rendi-tion of “Casey at the Bat.” Don Chio-faro’s influence with the Red Sox brassgot things moving; Carl Goodwin coordi-nated the Academy’s alumni who wishedto attend; Carter Lord’s coaching mydelivery was critical. Some have told me Ihit a home run. Thank you.

Morton G. Soule ’64Portland, ME


Around the Table

On June 3, alumni, students andfaculty joined together to offi-cially celebrate the renovated

Muslim prayer room, located on theground floor of Phillips Church. Installedlast fall, the central addition to the roomis the mihrab, a decorative wall niche thatmirrors a doorway and is built into themosque’s eastward-facing wall, or qibla, toindicate the direction of Mecca.

PEA’s mihrab is a reproduction of anIranian mihrab on display in an Israelimuseum, where Albert Hinckley Jr. ’51first saw it. Compelled to provide a moreauthentic space in Phillips Church forMuslim students after he toured the prayerroom during his 60th reunion, Hinckleyand classmate David Rush worked togeth-er to obtain a scaled, photographic versionof the original mihrab. The classmates alsocollaborated with the Academy and theparents of a student to install new carpet-ing, lighting and bookcases.

“I hope that the prayer room will be well received by the broad Exeter community,” Hinck-ley says, “and will also serve as a bridge for the Muslim students to the members of the other reli-gions, and vice versa. Further, the mihrab provides a superb example of Islamic art to a degree thatmay be enlightening to the Muslim students, as well as the whole community.”

The renovations are dedicated in memory of Hinckley’s late brother, George Fox SteedmanHinckley ’49; P’78, P’91, and Rush’s father, Samuel Hersh Rush P’51.

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PEA Earns National Award for Sustainability EffortsU.S. Department of Education Names it a Green Ribbon SchoolThe Academy is one of 64 schools nationwide to receiverecognition by the U.S. Department of Education for itsefforts to lessen environmental impact, which includeinstallation of geothermal wells, LEED-certified construc-tion practices, elimination of plastic water bottles, com-posting of food waste and environmental education.Chief of Planning and Facilities Roger Wakeman and

Environmental Stewardship Manager Jill Robinson pre-sented the 2013 Green Ribbon Schools award to PrincipalHassan in June. The Academy is one of only 10 independ-ent schools in the country to be honored with this distinc-tion this year. To learn more about PEA’s sustainability practices, visit

www.exeter.edu/sustainability.

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Albert Hinckley Jr. ’51, MSA co-head

Milton Syed ’14 and David Rush ’51.


Vag” is a character sketch that ends John Dos Passos’ U.S.A. trilogy about thenation’s wild economic ride from 1900 to the crash of 1929. In it he portraysa vagabond waiting “at the edge of the concrete. . . . Head swims, hunger has

twisted the belly tight.” Homeless, jobless, he hopes for a ride “a hundred miles downthe road.” For all his misery, he is less desperate than the utterly destitute peoplewhom the journalist Lorena Hickok describes in letters and reports she wrote during1933–34 to her intimate friend first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and to her boss, HarryHopkins, President Franklin Roosevelt’s right-hand man. Truth, in this case, washarsher than fiction.Drawing heavily from Hickok’s papers housed at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presi-

dential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY, the talented author Michael Golay, whoteaches history at the Academy, has written America 1933: The Great Depression, LorenaHickok, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Shaping of the New Deal. Lest anyone imagine thatAmerica 1933 is but another volume about some narrow aspect of the Great Depression,he or she need only read several pages to understand that built around Hickok’s vividdetailing of the horrors of extreme poverty is Golay’s own narrative, which sets her ninelengthy “on-the-road investigative assignments” in a broader context.An early chapter entitled “Muffled Figures, Bitter Winds” is an exam-ple: “The tally of the unemployed passed 10 million early in 1932—20 percent of the workforce—and rose throughout the year. By March1933, 13 million Americans would be jobless, fully 25 percent of thelaboring population.” The dismal figures roll on, though a thick-skinned reader might say that in 2013 they are yesterday’s news. But addto the many “muffled figures” a piece such as that below, of which thereare many about both rural and urban poverty blending Hickok’s andGolay’s voices, and America 1933 becomes a fascinating if deeply dis-turbing account of what American life was like for millions of peopleduring the Great Depression that lasted for more than a decade.Immediately after her lengthy investigation of the Dakotas during the

fall of 1933, Hickok wrote Hopkins, “If the President ever becomes dic-tator . . . I’ve got a grand idea for him. He can label this country out here‘Siberia’ and send all his exiles here. A more hopeless place I never saw.”Her seeming scorn is not that of a big-city reporter—she had grown up inSouth Dakota. The remark is an expression of her deep sympathy for the abject pover-ty she had witnessed. “West of Bismarck,” Golay writes,

A dirt road, rutted and barely passable, led over smooth rounded hills to a wornchurch where Hickok found a dozen men bent against a lacerating wind, waiting fora word with the Morton County relief agents. Paintless and frail-looking, encouchedin dry grass, the church stood alone in the vast wind-scoured prairie. The mengrouped near the entrance had been “hailed out” during the summer, their cropsdestroyed by ferocious storms in June and July. With winter coming on, they weredesperate for help. On the way to this bleak rendezvous Hickok passed withered and

The Worst of TimesA M E R I C A 1 9 3 3 : T H E G R E AT D E P R E S S I O N, L O R E N A H I C KO K ,E L E A N O R RO O S E V E LT, A N D T H E S H A P I N G O F T H E N E W D E A L ,BY HISTORY INSTRUCTOR MICHAEL GOLAYA review by Townsend Ludington ’53

Michael Golay’s latest

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the human cost of the

Great Depression.

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stunted cornfields, desiccated stalks the hail had beaten into the ground. Only one or two of themen wore overcoats. The others shivered in faded, thin, shabby denim. “Cotton denim doesn’tkeep out the wind very well,” she observed. When she returned to the car, it was full of men.Seeking warmth, they had crawled in and rolled up the windows.

This book is about a number of matters: Hickok’s acute observations about ordinary Americanssuffering from the Great Depression; her often emotional assertions to Eleanor Roosevelt andHopkins, which not infrequently reached the president’s ears and thus influenced federal policy;the love that developed between her and Eleanor; and about a time of severe economic crisis withsubstantial similarities to the present. Hickok’s work stands alongside U.S.A., John Steinbeck’s TheGrapes of Wrath and James Agee’s Let Us Now Praise Famous Men as powerful art documenting theDepression. Further, knowing about Hickok’s intimacy with Eleanor helps to explain the latter’sdeep commitment to bettering the state of “the little man.” And the question arises, what do theGreat Depression and the New Deal responses to it teach us about the economic woes that sur-faced in 2007 and for the most part remain with us today? “What would the future hold for thestrandees?” Golay asks. “Figuratively, and perhaps literally too, their descendants are among the 40million Americans stranded in poverty today.” In 1933 “defaulters . . . skittish depositors, and fatal-

ly weakened banks . . . extended and deepened the nationwide financialcrisis.” Golay notes, “Ill-judged loans, questionable, careless, or inept prac-tices, bad luck, and panicked depositors withdrawing their little all led toa renewed rush of bank failures. . . . Businesses couldn’t pay wages, buymaterials, or borrow money.” The journalist Matthew Josephson wasdown to his last $10 when he remarked that “the land of the almighty dol-lar had run out of dollars.”

Sound familiar, despite differences between then and now? EllenChesler, a Senior Fellow with the Roosevelt Institute, asserts that America1933 “should be assigned reading for the Obama White House and for allthose in Congress who stand in the way of the president’s efforts to lead usthrough our own challenging times.” This is sensible advice, even for thosewho do not buy into the president’s “progressive” program—we avoid theterm “liberal” these days. Dos Passos, in one of the expressionistic pieces he

called “Camera Eye”—this one just before “Vag” at the end of U.S.A.—lamented the executions in1927 of the Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti: “America our nation has been beaten by strangerswho have turned our language inside out who have taken the clean words our father spoke andmade them slimy and foul . . . all right we are two nations . . . we stand defeated America.” Morethan just about the Italians’ deaths, the piece is about the haves and the have-nots.

Though less immersed in the miseries of extreme poverty than Hickok became, Dos Passos hadseen them firsthand in places like Harlan County, KY: “at the head of the valley in the dark of thehills on the broken floor of a lurchedover cabin a man halfsits halflies propped up by an old womantwo wrinkled girls that might be young chunks of coal flare in the hearth flicker in his facewhite and sagging as dough blacken the cavedin mouth the taut throat the belly swelled enor-mous with the wound he got working on the minetipple,” he wrote in the last “Camera Eye” ofhis trilogy. What Dos Passos experienced in the wake of the 1927 executions and what he saw inKentucky in 1931 seemed to him to signify the defeat of American democracy. Eleanor, PresidentRoosevelt and Hickok were horrified by the same things, but they went further to overcomedefeatism. The complacency of some, the fear of change on the part of many, and the powerlessnessof millions more—the malaise of the nation—had to be dealt with. Through the New Deal, how-ever imperfectly, it was. Golay’s fine book documents that.

Townsend Ludington ’53; P’83 is the Boshamer Distinguished Professor of American Studies and English, Emeritus at

the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

America 1933 becomes afascinating if deeply

disturbing account of whatAmerican life was like for

millions of people....


Alumni are urged to advise the Exonians in Review editor of their own publications, recordings, films, etc., in any field,and those of classmates. Whenever possible, authors and composers are encouraged to send one copy of their booksand original copies of articles to Edouard Desrochers ’45, ’62 (Hon.); P’94, P’97, the editor of Exonians in Review, PhillipsExeter Academy, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833.

ALUMNI1953—Peter M. Wolf. MyNew Orleans, Gone Away: AMemoir of Loss and Renewal.(Delphinium, 2013)

1958—Roger Lipsey. Hammarskjöld: A Life. (Univer-sity of Michigan Press, 2013)1959—Richard Davidson,editor. Prelude, A Novel & The1854 Diary of Adeline Eliza-beth Hoe, by Helen TaylorDavidson. (Peter E. Randall,2013)1959—Tom Mankiewiczand Robert Crane. My Lifeas a Mankiewicz: An Insider’sJourney through Hollywood.(The University Press ofKentucky, 2012)1959—Jan Schreiber. Sparring with the Sun: Poetsand the Ways We Think aboutPoetry in the Late Days ofModernism. (Antilever Press,2013)1962—J.P. Jones. Convictions.(CreateSpace, 2013)1963—Bill Schubart. I amBaybie: A Novel. (Magic HillPress, 2013)1966—Peter Thompson.Angle of Incidence/Shades.(Diálogos, 2012)

1970—John C. Taliaferro.All the Great Prizes: The Life ofJohn Hay, from Lincoln to Roo-sevelt. (Simon & Schuster,2013).1975—Brooks D. Simpson.Gettysburg, 1863. (PotomacBooks Inc., 2013)

1981—Pamela Erens. TheVirgins: A Novel. (Tin HouseBooks, 2013)1981—Claudia Putnam.Wild Thing in Our KnownWorld. (Finishing Line Press,2013)1982—Dan Brown. Inferno:A Novel. (Doubleday, 2013)1983—Doug Mayer andothers. Mountain Voices: Stories of Life and Adventure inthe White Mountains and Be-yond. (Appalachian MountainClub Books, 2012)

1986—Wendy (Holt) Francis. Three Good Things: A Novel. (Simon & Schuster,2013)

1991—Noel Sloboda andothers. Our Rarer Monsters.(sunnyoutside, 2013)BRIEFLY NOTED1958—Bo Wreden and J.S.Zil. Albert Nalbandian and thePreservation of ArmenianBooks and Art: “Look For-ward and Never LookBack.” IN The Book Club ofCalifornia Quarterly News-Letter. (v. 77, no. 3, 74-79,summer 2012)—“Stanford Wreden PrizeWinners 2011.” IN TheBook Club of CaliforniaQuarterly News-Letter. (v. 77,no. 2, 44-45, spring 2012)1961—Thomas A. Lovejoy,contributor. The GreekHouse: The Story of a Painter’sLove Affair with the Island ofSifnos, by Christian Brech-neff. (Farrar, Straus andGiroux, 2013)1977—Kathleen C. Engeland Thomas J. Fitzpatrick IV.“Complexity, Complicity, andLiability up the Securitiza-tion Food Chain: Investorand Arranger Exposure toConsumer Claims.” IN Har-vard Business Law Review. (v.2, no. 2, Summer 2012)

1988—Rebecca T. Emenyand others. “Job strain asso-ciated CRP is mediated byleisure time physical activity:Results from the MON-ICA/KORA study.” IN Brain,Behavior, and Immunity. (v. 26,no. 7, 1077-1084, October2012)—and others. “Job Strain-Associated InflammatoryBurden and Long-Term Riskof Coronary Events: Findingsfrom the MONICA/KORAAugsburg Case-CohortStudy.” IN PsychosomaticMedicine. (v. 75, no. 3, 317-325, April 2013)1991—Ana Silva. “Elemen-tary.” [poem] IN The MomEgg [“Mother Tongue”]. (v. 11, 2013)1996—Jasmin DreameWagner. “Champion Mill”[poem] IN The Arcadia Proj-ect: Post American PostmodernPastoral. (AHSAHTA Press,2012)—“String Theory.” [fiction]IN NANO Fiction. (v. 6, no.1,fall 2012)2002—Alex M. Solomonand others. “The Special Liti-gation Committee: Specialhandling required.” IN Direc-tors & Boards. (First Quarter,2013)FACULTY/FORMER BENNETT FELLOWMichael Golay. America1933: The Great Depression,Lorena Hickok, Eleanor Roo-sevelt, and the Shaping of theNew Deal. (Free Press, 2013).Claudia Putnam ’81. WildThing in Our Known World.(Finishing Line Press, 2013)

Commencement

2o1320 The Exeter Bulletin SUMMER 2013

(Top) Student Council PresidentMax Freedman ’13, who assistedPrincipal Hassan in handing out

diplomas, receives his own. (Above)Modern Languages Instructor MingFontaine and other faculty mem-

bers line the pathways to cheer onthe graduates. (Right) Twenty-

three seniors earned classical diplo-mas. (Below) Joana Andoh ’13 talks

with a fellow classical student.

Find more graduation photos at www.exeter.edu/bulletinextras

Good morning, Exeter, and welcome to this very spe-cial occasion marking the Commencement of the 311members of Phillips Exeter Academy’s class of 2013. As

we celebrate the individual and collective journeys of the mem-bers of this graduating class, we should take a moment toacknowledge the people who trod this road with them . . . some-times beside them . . . sometimes ahead of them . . . or sometimesfollowing in their wake. Seniors, please stand and join me inthanking your fellow travelers—your parents, family membersand friends in this audience and elsewhere—with a round ofapplause as an expression of your gratitude and your love.“Journeys” is the theme of my address to the class of 2013

today. When we contemplate a journey, we think of a trip orexpedition from one place to another, or a gradual passing fromone state to another, as from innocence to a mature awareness; orperhaps the journey is a spiritual one. The seniors sitting heretoday have experienced one or more of these passages duringtheir time at the Academy. This is Exeter’s 232nd Commencement. For me, it is a partic-


Pathways Traveled TogetherCommencement address by Principal ThomasE. Hassan ’56, ’66, ’70, ’06 (Hon.); P’11

Photography by Cheryl Senter

ularly special graduation. Four years ago, many of you were prepswhen I began my “prep year” as head of school. I have watchedyou grow in confidence and success around the Harkness tablesand on the playing fields, and I have seen you bond together as aclass. And no matter when you entered the Academy, we have allbeen on a fantastic journey toward this day together. Exeter alumni, who experienced their first steps on this path

before you, have had stories to tell of their odysseys, some similarto yours and some very different. From the earliest years in ourschool’s history, the journey to Exeter was an adventure-filled,and sometimes challenging, one.

If you read the oldest accounts of the Academy, you will findstories of young men who walked barefoot from distant farms tothis very place, carrying their shoes over their shoulders so as notto wear them out before they had to put them on for classes.In one case, John Vinton, class of 1823, walked 566 miles from

his New York home to Exeter, choosing the school, even backthen, for its generous financial package. As early as the 1780s, right after the school opened, the first four

boys in a long line of studentsfrom afar made the voyage toExeter from the West Indies.Some came on merchant vesselsto Portsmouth, NH, or Salem,MA, and others sailed up theSquamscott River and disem-barked right in Exeter. Whilethese overseas voyages couldtake months, it isn’t as strange asit might seem, since some of thetown’s prominent merchantswith names familiar to us—likePeabody and Gilman—wereactive in the West Indies trade. For many of you this will have

been a cultural journey—a jour-ney from families and back-grounds that may not haveem phasized the same social andpractical skills you found to be

valued here at Exeter. In this, you follow in the footsteps of many Exo-nians.The famous orator Sen. Daniel Webster, class of 1796, was one of

Exeter’s earliest graduates, and one of its most illustrious. He cameto Exeter as a raw boy wearing a homespun suit that was too smallfor him and mounted on a bony horse . . . right off the farm in Sal-isbury, NH. He saw himself as a poor student and he had problemsadjusting to Academy life, but, beyond that, his table manners wereatrocious. His father urged that young Daniel be taught how tohold a knife and fork. Mr. Webster wrote, “Daniel knows no moreabout it . . . than a cow does . . . about holding a spade.” I suspect that the members of the class of 2013 came to Exeter

with a greater knowledge of table manners than poor Daniel did,but living and learning at a singular place like the Academy cancertainly be a journey of adjustment for anyone. And that expe-dition can be filled with excitement and joy. I know it was that way for me. As I was growing up in a small

town in Connecticut, no one in my family was aware that therewas a place called Phillips Exeter Academy. In high school, like


(Top) Calais Larson ’13 multi-tasks with breakfast and last-minute mascara before liningup. (Above) Alexander Fuchs ’13shakes hands with ScienceInstructor Michele Chapmanduring the graduates’ proces-sional. (Right) Diplomas in hand,the class of 2013 begins a newjourney.

many other public school students, I read A Separate Peace byJohn Knowles ’45, and my imagination was piqued by the idea ofa boarding school like the one he described. Then as a student incollege, I met Exeter grads and learned about the transforma-tional education they had experienced here. I knew at that timethat I wanted to be a teacher, and I was fascinated by the idea ofliving and working at a place like Exeter. It was when I first sat ata Harkness table as I was interviewing for a job here 25 years agothat I immediately knew this was the right place for me. The live-ly conversations, which placed students at the center, were puremagic to someone who had spent most of his education in rowsof desks, where memorizing and repeating information was themost valued skill a student was called upon to develop.

Many of you have made the trip to Exeter and have taken aseat around our tables from well beyond Connecticut. In factyour ranks represent students from more than 22 countries andnearly all of the 50 states.

I have watched the class of 2013 with great pride as you trav-eled toward this moment. The 203 preps who arrived on campusin the fall of 2009 might have agreed with Oliver Goldsmith,Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright and poet of the 1700s, whoobserved, “Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter howbad the roads and accommodations.”

The preps of 2009 experienced a fall term that was inaugu-rated by the outbreak of H1N1, better known as swine flu—or asyou christened it “Swine ’09.” Assemblies, dances and large gath-erings were canceled, and huge gallon-sized bottles of hand san-itizer populated every surface. Hand-washing was the order ofthe day, and one student observed that he went through a 2-literbottle of Purell in just a week. But Exonians showed the new-comers how we bounce back. Smaller impromptu dances wereheld in Wheelwright and Amen Halls, and the Peabody boysbuilt their own outdoor theater. Dean [Russell] Weatherspoonlived up to the challenge of keeping order, and by the end ofNovember the flu had pretty much run its course.

The class of 2013 continued to run its course as well, and in yourtime here you have been involved in some significant journeys:

• At least two trips to Carnegie Hall, one to rehearse as part ofthe First National Youth Orchestra and another to receivea 2013 Scholastic Art & Writing Award.

• The Senior Acting Ensemble transported us to Inishmaan,one of the Aran Isles off the west coast of Ireland, to expe-rience the stark drama of The Cripple of Inishmaan.

• We cheered sports teams on their roads to victory, including: • The fifth consecutive Big Red football win over Andover • Championship seasons for boys cross-country, water

polo, boys basketball, and girls and boys crew.• In the spring, students in Biology 470—a new course offered

in collaboration with a Stanford University research lab—dove into the world of the fruit fly, growing and examiningstrains of this insect to aid in the search for a diabetes cure.

• And three seniors charted a new path of non sibi by workingin nearby Manchester, NH, on a project focused onimproving the nutritional needs of refugee children there.This program was an outgrowth of the summer StudentGlobal Leadership Institute that we have been doing inconjunction with the Punahou School in Hawaii for thepast four years.

Just as you, class of 2013, have been in a constant state of


(Top) William Yu ’13, violinist forthe ceremony’s String Quartet,with his mom. (Above) SanamShetty ’13 and her family. (Left)Seniors Gian Paul Graziosi andZoe Ene pose in front of PhillipsChurch.

evolution, so too has the school you are about to leave. A ven-erable institution such as this must evolve or it will stagnate.As Exeter examines its place in an ever-changing world, itmust nevertheless remain true to the vision and missionexpressed by our founder John Phillips in the school’s 1781Deed of Gift: to educate individuals of the “noblest character”and provide them with the “surest foundation of usefulness tomankind.” But the Academy also needs to carry these valuesinto new territories.

The great challenge now, as it has been in the past, is how tohonor and propagate these values as Exeter progresses. In the early20th century, the gift of Edward Harkness helped Exeter refocusits method of teaching, but that work didn’t alter the Academy’score commitment to academic rigor. During the 1940s throughthe 1960s, Hammy Bissell’s work recruiting scholarship students,followed later by the admission of girls beginning in the 1970s,transformed our understanding of John Phillips’ call for youthfrom every quarter. Our foundation of intellectual inquiry, how-ever, never changed . . . nor does it to this day.


(Above) Senior Joonhyuk Yangreceives the Thomas H. CornellAward from Principal Hassan.(Clockwise from above) SeniorClass President Alexander Yangdelivers his remarks; Geda Tola’13 celebrates with his family;from cameras to iPads, thegraduates’ families were readyto capture the big day.

G R A D U A T I O N P R I Z E SThe Yale Cup, awarded each year by the Aurelian Honor Societyof Yale University to the member of the senior class who best com-bines the highest standards of character and leadership with excel-lence in his studies and in athletics:Alexander Yong Tse Yang, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Ruth and Paul Sadler ’23 Cup, awarded each year to thatmember of the senior class who best combines the highest stan-dards of character and leadership with excellence in her studies andin athletics:Haley Elizabeth Baker, Kensington, NH

The Perry Cup, established by the class of 1945 in honor of Dr.Lewis Perry, eighth principal of the Academy, and given annually toa senior who has shown outstanding qualities of leadership andschool spirit:Max Montag Freedman, Westport, CT

The Williams Cup, established in memory of George LyndeRichardson Jr. ’37 and given annually to a student who, havingbeen in the Academy four years, has, by personal qualities, broughtdistinction to Phillips Exeter:Lydia MacFarlane Watt, Durham, NH

The Eskie Clark Award, given annually to that scholarship stu-dent in the graduating class who, through hard work and persever-ance, has excelled in both athletics and scholarship in a mannerexemplified by Eskie Clark of the class of 1919:Darby Elizabeth Henry, Kentfield, CA

The Cornell Award, decided by the senior class and given annu-ally to that member of the graduating class who exemplifies the Ex-eter Spirit typified by Thomas Hilary Cornell of the class of 1911:Joonhyuk Yang, Seoul, Republic of Korea

The Cox Medals, given by Oscar S. Cox Esq., in memory of hisfather, Jacob Cox, are awarded each year to the five members of thegraduating class who, having been two or more years in the Acad-emy, have attained the highest scholastic rank:Shi-Fan Stephen Chen, Taipei, TaiwanXin Xuan Chen, Shenzhen, P.R. ChinaEmma Hagood Clarkson, Portsmouth, NHAlexander Yong Tse Yang, Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaJoonhyuk Yang, Seoul, Republic of Korea

The Faculty Prize for Academic Excellence, given to thatmember of the graduating class who, having been two or moreyears in the Academy, is recognized on the basis of scholarship asholding the first rank:Emma Hagood Clarkson, Portsmouth, NH

Exeter is once again at another critical juncture in history. Thekey matters the class of 2013 has faced and will continue to grap-ple with are clear-cut. Take technology as one example: In hisbest-selling book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to OurBrains, journalist Nicholas Carr posits that our participation inthe online world has made it more difficult to focus on lengthytexts and complicated ideas. How does his hypothesis play out aswe remain true to our commitment to engaged, in-depth analy-sis and conversation while introducing technological tools thatcan enhance the Harkness discussion? With its resources, aca-demic traditions and commitment to the students, Exeter isuniquely positioned to prepare our graduates to face a variety ofsuch emergent issues and to be at the fore in aiding others withthese challenges. We must continue to expand opportunities for world explo-

ration by students and faculty, examine the ways in which wemeasure success, and maintain our academic rigor as we evaluatenew technologies. Above all, we must focus on the completenessof the experience we provide to our students and the facultywho teach them.I believe that during my years as principal, some of which I

have shared with the class of 2013, we have just begun thisprocess. I am committed during my tenure to ensuring Exeter’speople and programs will further engage in spirited intellectualexploration beyond the physical confines of our campus and thepedagogic strictures of the past. The term “Exeter bubble” has been used to describe the

sometimes insular nature of this institution. Members of the classof 2013, you have been my partners in bursting that bubble. Andthe inside covers of your PEAN this year captured it so well:Exeter can no longer focus only on “youth from every quarter.”It is our duty to prepare our graduates to become “youth forevery quarter.”Toward that goal, some of you traveled with your teachers to

India this spring and brought back stories, pictures and learningexperiences. One student blogged from India:

The trip is approximately two weeks, and every day hasbeen one of exploration and intrigue. This adventure haschanged me in a variety of facets. Without Exeter, I believeI would never have seen this part of the world, and thatwould have been a shame. India is a beautiful country; espe-cially when I have the Exeter community to share it with.

Others have seen their lives change while working and study-ing in the Bahamas, China, Ecuador, England, France, Germany,Ireland, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, Washington, D.C., and Ver-mont. But as you explored the world beyond our campus, you,members of the class of 2013, haven’t forgotten the importanceof your connections right here in Exeter. I have been deeplyimpressed with the ways you have cultivated a spirit of cama-raderie not only with your class but also with your faculty. Thedodgeball competition is one shining example. Or the ways inwhich you captured your own stories in your meditations andthe generous way you have published those narratives for all ofyou to keep and read for years to come. You are a highly con-nected, firmly rooted and deeply compassionate class.And the fact that you are a unique group was very evident in

your final days on campus: The class of 2013 must surely be thefirst one who, thanks to Mr. [Todd] Hearon, has been the subject


of a Horatian ode and was subsequently serenaded by harmoni-ca and banjo. I hope the memory of that special evening keepsyou “Forever Young.” And speaking of forever young, certainlyDean [Ron] Kim’s spirited if somewhat surprising rendition of“Party in the U.S.A.” at the Senior Night festivities shows hisdedication to abiding youth. That performance was comple-mented by Max Freedman’s own karaoke version, including amusical skipping trip around the gym. In amusing times and in serious ones, Exeter has been a start-

ing point for many journeys, and it will always be a place thatwelcomes back the class of 2013. Your class gift, a Harkness cir-cle surrounded by 13 granite seating blocks, will forever resideon the Ford Quadrangle between Phillips Hall and WetherellDining Hall. It will be a symbolic place that reminds you thatyour teachers, classmates and friends—both adults and stu-dents—have been and will be waiting to help you through yourtrials and to join you in celebrating your triumphs. It will be aplace for you to reconnect when you are back for your reunionsand a place for future generations of Exonians to find inspirationfrom the gift you leave. Thank you for your generosity of giftand of spirit.

Now comes the time that I must say farewell to you, the class of2013. And, in doing so, I offer you my customary charge. I hope itis as helpful for you to hear it as it is for me to read it:

First, you have been given the gift of a Harkness education.Use the voices you have developed around our oval tables tospeak up, to speak your own mind and to draw out othersaround you. But more importantly, help those who cannot speak

up for themselves. In the words of Proverbs

31:8, “Speak up for those whocannot speak for themselves,for the rights of all who aredestitute. Speak up and judgefairly; defend the rights of thepoor.”

Second, you have learnedwell the lesson of unitingknowledge and goodness. Goforth and give of yourself toyour communities and tothis world, and in the process,do so for others and not foryourself alone.

Remember the words ofMahatma Gandhi: “I shall passthrough this world but once.Any good therefore that I cando or any kindness that I canshow to any human being, letme do it now. Let me not deferor neglect it, for I shall not passthis way again.” And I add thewords of someone with whomyou are most familiar, Dr. Seuss[from The Lorax]:

“Unless someone like youcares a whole awful lot, nothingis going to get better. It’s not.”

And, finally, remain connected with each other and to ourschool. Take the connections and special friendships you haveformed at Exeter with you, and nurture them in years to come.To reinforce that thought, I leave you with the words of theGreek philosopher, mathematician and religious scholarPythagoras: “Friends are as companions on a journey, who oughtto aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life.”

Goodbye, class of 2013. Godspeed, class of 2013. God blessyou on all of your journeys, class of 2013.


Retiring faculty membersinclude (clockwise from right)History Instructor BarbaraEggers, English Instructor LarkHammond and History Instruc-tor Andy Hertig ’57. Also retiring but not pictured arePhysical Education InstructorBill Dennehy and ScienceInstructor Sharon Finley.

(Above) When Ingrid Gutierrez-Sifuentes ’13 mailed out her gradu-ation invitations, she sent one to her middle school principal, whohad helped her apply to Exeter, and to the mayor of her town, whohad followed her progress at PEA with pride. To Gutierrez-Sifuentes’ surprise and delight, both men accepted her invitation,eager to honor this young woman from Brownsville, TX. Pictured,from left to right: Michael Motyl, former principal and now presi-dent of Guadalupe Regional Middle School; Gutierrez-Sifuentes’brother, Javier; Gutierrez-Sifuentes; her mother, Florina Sifuentes;Principal Hassan; and Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez, a foundingmember and former president of the GRMS’s board of directors.


Olivia Jackson ’13gives a big thumbs-upafter receiving herdiploma.


e sit Harkness-style around atable in the Seabrooke Room in ElmStreet Dining Hall. We are reading OliverSacks’ book, The Mind’s Eye. The centralcharacter of the first chapter is Lilian, a concertpianist who is gradually going blind. Sacksintersperses her poignant tale with researchabout the brain and how we perceive things.Suddenly, Religion Instructor Kathy BrownbackP’08 suggests we all close our eyes for the rest of thediscussion. Since Kathy always has the best suggestions,we close our eyes. Silence ensues. As the convener ofthis Weekly Book Club, comprised of PEA emeriti,

faculty and staff members, I feel anxiety rising: What if no one says anything? What if people thinkthis is a bogus idea? Slowly, very slowly, comments arise. Instead of comments on the text per se,they are reflections of how it feels to try to “read” the group while sightless. Some say the distantclatter of the dining hall is receding, others say the sound is magnified. Slowly the conversationswings back to Lilian and how her world is simultaneously shrinking and expanding. We leave forclasses and offices feeling somehow changed by our attempt to “live” into the book.

The Weekly Book Club is weekly but definitely not a club—rather an ever-revolving groupof readers. It started spontaneously four years ago when I returned to New England from theUniversity of Chicago and was hired by the Academy’s Classical Languages Department. For-mer History Instructor Lawrence Smith P’03, P’05 was at the time overseeing faculty continu-ing development and the opening fall faculty meeting. The opening speaker in 2010 sent arecommended reading list. One of the books on the list was The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, whohad written a cover article in The Atlantic entitled, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Shallowsgrew out of that article. Since I had read the magazine piece with interest, I proposed that agroup of faculty might be interested in discussing the book since it seemed especially relevant toour role as teachers of young brains. Principal Hassan, an early and enthusiastic supporter of theplan, offered financial support to buy the books. A mass email sent to the faculty immediatelygenerated 20 responses. We decided to limit the size to 20 because that number of people canhardly fit around a table and have a productive conversation. Lawrence then secured a room forus to use every Thursday at lunchtime.

Having been in a book club in Hyde Park consisting of faculty from the University of Chica-go, I knew that reading an entire book to discuss, say, every month would prove daunting to afaculty as stretched as Exeter’s. The 24/7 nature of the job here is a source of wonder and admi-ration to this happily part-time teacher. On the fly, I decided on a weekly close reading of 20pages or less. At 200 pages, The Shallows broke nicely into manageable weekly chunks. Like my


LiteratureOver LunchBreaking down silos with PEA’s Weekly Book Club

By Lee Behnke, instructor in classical languages and English Photography by Cheryl Senter

(Top right) School Counselor

Connie Morse. (Bottom left)

Emerita Religion Instructor Betsy

Farnham and Admissions Intern

Claire Abisalih ’07. (Bottom right)

Math Instructor Joe Wolfson.

Hyde Park group, each session began by a memberasking a starting question, pointing to a provoca-tive section of the text, or providing some contextfor the piece at hand. We discovered while readingThe Shallows that the brain is “massively plastic,”with neurons constantly breaking down andremaking connections. By the end of the fall term,we became aware of the potential for distraction ifnot reorganization of the brain—not just thegrowing brain but any brain. Our brains. Webecame conscious of our own ability or non-abil-ity to focus, and under what conditions.

For each Academy term over the three yearssince, there has been a different book and achanging group of faculty and staff, though a coreof about six hardy perennials anchors the group.Some participants are repeaters as their interestsand schedules allow; some, like our current


Informed TeachingOriginally it was The Shallows that reeled mein. I had read it and wanted to discuss it withcolleagues. After that first oasis experience, Iwas hooked. A bookaholic, I found a group ofcolleagues to discuss ideas that can make myteaching more informed, if not better. Thetopics are not just good for my classroomteaching but also for the overall mission of theschool: [educating] “the whole person,” good-ness, community. I get a break from the cri-sis-management mode I usually find myselfoperating in. I make myself read, instead of put-ting it off. The weekly format is ideal. It givesus plenty but not an overwhelming amount totalk about, and enough time to do it, with theluxury of a detailed discussion.

—Tanya Watermanscience instructor

(Top left) Book club founder

Lee Behnke. (Top right) Claire

Abisalih and Religion Instructor

Kathy Brownback. (Bottom

right) Modern Languages

Instructor Evelyn Christoph.

interns, are one-time participants. Almost every academic departmenthas been represented since 2010, as well as the College CounselingOffice, Office of Institutional Advancement, the Academy Library, andthe Lamont Health and Wellness Center. These diverse participants,

whose ages range from 60-plusto 23, bring a richness of per-spectives as well as keen intel-ligence and hearts devoted tothe development of educatedand moral young people. Most of the books we

have read concern cognition,the brain, cultural assumptions,cognitive bias as well as the phi-losophy of thought. PrincipalHassan has requestedthat the books be non-fiction and at least tan-gentially related to thetasks of life at the Acade-my. Although this stipula-tion is felt to be mostreasonable, a hunger formore and different bookdiscussions arose in thebook group almost from thestart. We therefore started one-time lunch or dinner book dis-cussions several times a year.

A book is proposed; folks sign up; the proposer orders the books andcollects money; a date is set. The date is usually after the winter orspring break. Fiction has been a common choice. Percy C. RogersProfessor in Romance Languages and Modern Languages InstructorEvelyn Christoph P’06, P’07, P’10 suggested The Elegance of theHedgehog by Muriel Barbery; Emerita Chair of the Math Depart-ment and John E. and Mary E. Smith Memorial Distinguished Pro-fessor Joyce Kemp ’87, ’89 (Hon.); P’88, P’90 suggested TheHousekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. The consummate bibliophile, Science Instructor Tanya Waterman also

proposed a text, and a group of us met in late March for dinner at Tanya’sapartment to discuss Sebastian Faulks’ A Possible Life: A Novel in FiveParts. Not only was the dinner delicious but—for me at least—the dis-cussion was mind-boggling. Despite my years of reading andteaching texts, I turned out not to have understood this Faulks“novel” at all. I drove home in wonder at the intellectual firepow-er of the Exeter faculty. Each term brings a new book, new people and new insights to

the formal book group. It is a fact that after English Instructor RalphSneeden ’98 (Hon.); P’07, P’09, P’13 sends an email to the commu-nity announcing the book for the next term, my inbox and the groupare full within three hours. Three times we have formed a second,satellite group coordinated by a volunteer to meet the demand. Eng-lish Instructor Ellen Wolff P’17 ran such a group last fall to discuss thechosen text, Quiet by Susan Cain. Kathy has run two consecutive groupsthis year on a text she finds profoundly important, Your Unique Self: TheRadical Path to Personal Enlightenment by Marc Gafni. Several instructors inher group are using the book and the related discussions as part of their


The Shallows: What theInternet Is Doing to OurBrains, by NicholasCarr

The HappinessHypothesis: Find-ing Modern Truth

in Ancient Wisdom,by Jonathan Haidt

Buddha’s Brain: ThePractical Neuroscienceof Happiness, Love, and Wis-dom, by Rick Hanson andRichard Mendius

Not For Profit:Why Democracy

Needs the Humani-ties, by Martha C.

Nussbaum

The Heart ofHigher Education:A Call to Renewal, byParker J. Palmer andArthur Zajonc, withMegan Scribner

The Geography of Thought: How

Asians and Western-ers Think Differently

. . . and Why, byRichard Nisbett

The Mind’s Eye, byOliver Sacks

Quiet: The Power ofIntroverts in a

World That Can’tStop Talking, by

Susan Cain

The Weekly Book Club’sRecommended Reading List

Cross-DisciplinaryExchange

Our Book Club has been a wonderfulopportunity for faculty and staff fromacross many disciplines to come togeth-er in a welcoming, relaxed atmosphereto share impressions, learn and reflectwith each other. Too often in our busylives on campus, we are caught in ourown worlds, in our own perspectives andvantage points. The [club] has affordeda unique chance to know each other ina new way by making time to read acommon book. This is my second timein the group and I have marveled howoften the books from other terms arewoven into the discussion—often build-ing upon thoughts, topics or knowledgefrom previous books. We are all grate-ful for administrative support and for thelively, proactive spirit and joie de vivre ofour fearless leader, Lee [Behnke].

—Connie Morse P’03, school counselor and student

listener coordinator

continuing professional development. We are now reading Blindspot: Hidden Biases ofGood People by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald, which was suggestedby Math Instructor Cath Holden P’02. This book provides additional evidence thatthe human brain sees and processes what it “wants” to perceive. Blindspot is unusual inthat the authors have done large-scale surveys and developed tests to reveal uncon-scious biases within people. The authors themselves demonstrated bias when they tookthe tests—and they created the tests! The book includes sample tests, which somemembers of the group have completed. As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is notworth living,” so we are making our lives more worthwhile by examining our biases.A conversation has grown out of the Weekly Book Club about a possible future

interdisciplinary course involving physics, chemistry, classical languages and theater. Itwas initiated by Tanya, who spent her fall 2012 sabbatical term visiting Trinity CollegeDublin, where she serendipitously discovered the play Ear to the Edge of Time by AlanaValentine, which won an international competition for the best new play about sci-ence and technology. Having read The Swerve: How the World Became Modern byStephen Greenblatt, Tanya approached Theater and Dance Department Chair SarahReam ’75; P’09, P’11, Science Instructor Andrew McTammany ’04 and me abouthatching a senior course about science and the arts, which would communicate ideasacross the interface of language, creativity and imagination. We feel this interconnect-ed and complex world of science and art is already extant in digital, artistic and liter-ary intermingling. The “cultures” of arts and sciences need bridges between them, andwe hope that future PEA alumni will be better positioned if they are able to straddlethese two cultures. The goal of the course would be to explore the connections of science and the

humanities from the ancient atomists through the Renaissance to quantum physics.Excited about the idea, Sarah began thinking up short plays as student projects.Andrew is a science history buff whose ideas include re-enacting historic experiments.And I love the linking of the Augustan Age and the poems of Lucretius with that era’safterlife in the Renaissance and beyond. The course would be team-taught, and stu-dents would read Lucretius’ “De Rerum Natura” (in translation) and The Two Culturesby C.P. Snow, in addition to The Swerve. We thought a possible title for such a coursemight be Tracing the Sky or Time Travels with Epicurus. What a treat to brainstorm a pos-sible new course, with its roots in Book Club readings and its crown perhaps in theCourses of Instruction!From the popularity of the Book Club and the relationships and collaborations that

emerge from it, one can sense a hungerfor connection in the Phillips Exetercommunity. Because of the school’s size,“silos” stemming from departmentsbeing located all over campus and in sep-arate buildings, and the pace of life, peo-ple want connections across disciplines,professions, age groups and interests. Theclub is one of a number of initiatives thatPrincipal Hassan has put in place since histenure began four years ago. From openhouses at Saltonstall House for rotatinggroups of faculty and staff to Academy-

sponsored faculty trips to India and Israel, theseefforts provide new experiences for the communi-ty and are effective in breaking down the organi-zational divisions that exist. Only the Book Club,however, provides an ongoing dialogue about ourstudents, our classrooms and our lives. There issomething almost spiritual about fostering ourconnections to each other through a book, alunch, a laugh and a conversation.


Personal ConnectionsI joined the Book Club to interact withother members of the Exeter communitywhom I wouldn’t normally have thechance or the pleasure to meet. . . .Although the Book Club isn’t a socialgathering per se, I’ve learned more aboutother members of the club and theiropinions than I have from the booksthemselves. It’s a rare opportunity to beat a Harkness table with other Exeterteachers. The book we read in the win-ter term was a great discussion starter,and it initiated conversations about oursense of morality, personal philosophies,and, yes, even the meaning of life. Thespring term selection is also a good con-versation opener, and while I’m eager todiscover and explore my blind spots alone,it’s been better and more comforting todo so with other people.”

—Petra Laohakulclassical languages intern

Cultural and Personal Discovery

When Lee [Behnke] f irst made anannouncement about what was to becomethe book group, I was drawn much more toNicholas Carr’s The Shallows than to theidea of acquiring a new weekly commit-ment. But the group that formed, and thequality of the discussion, soon made Thurs-day lunch a favorite appointment on my cal-endar. As we discussed Carr’s book, webegan to realize that the group itself wasanswering one of his queries—in our web-connected world, where do we join togeth-er for in -depth , person-to-personconversation, and for close reading togeth-er over time? Without particularly settingout to do so, we began to develop such aplace. Our topics revolve around teachingat Exeter, but really around living in theworld together—how East and Westapproach life differently and what theybring to each other, what brain research tellsus about mindfulness and emotion, whythe humanities are important in a civil soci-ety (and important even to the sciences),and where we find “the heart of highereducation.” It wasn’t long before committees andgroups scheduling meetings began to real-ize that Thursday lunch was sacrosanct forpeople in the group. A cross section of aca-demic departments is generally repre-sented , which makes for a fer t i lecross-disciplinary conversation, and amongteachers are always staff members whopoint to the relevance of all this to thecampus community outside the classroom.There is an appealing vibrancy to the dis-cussion, and always a friendly one. I remem-ber arriving late for a meeting, and uponseeing my various colleagues immersedaround a table in an intense discussion ofpage 142, I thought, “This is Exeter . . . thisis what we do. Strange that we don’t do itmore often.” Many people come in andout of the group depending on the book andtheir schedules that term. But some are reg-ulars who’ve yet to miss a book. I’m one ofthose. As my colleague [Math Instructor]Joe Wolfson said at the end of one termwhen it came time to choose a book,“Whatever we decide, I’m in.”

—Kathy Brownbackreligion instructor and Vira I. Heinz

Distinguished Professor

The Exeter crew program consis-tently launches boats that win. Infact, this spring, four of the six crew

boats medaled at the New England Inter-scholastic Rowing Association regatta, withboth the boys and girls varsity boats impres-sively capturing first place.

Many Exonian rowers go on to competesuccessfully in college and some qualify forcompetitions as elite as the Olympics. Yet,each year, Exeter crew starts its season withmany new athletes who have little to noexperience rowing in an eight-person boat.What then goes into developing crews thatconsistently cross the finish line first?

Sports science and technology have cer-tainly made it easier—as the infographic onthe following pages demonstrates—but datacompiled during training is only useful as astarting point, and it doesn’t account for thecritical human/boat interaction. “There is really an art to putting together a boat in the most efficient way, andchoosing the people [who will] work together,” says Classical Languages Instructor Sally Morris P’07, P’08, P’10,Exeter crew program director and head coach of girls crew.

Take Julian Drury ’14, who sits in seat 8 of the B2 boat. As the “stroke,” Drury must be physically strong, buthe also holds a high-stakes leadership position responsible for setting the stroke rate and rhythm for the entire crew,based on what the coxswain calls. He says, “In my position, I can keep my rowers in time, keep them strong andkeep them motivated. That ability is also the most challenging part of sitting stroke seat. If I take a weak stroke, ora mistimed stroke, I can set the whole boat off.”

Jessica Michaels ’14, the coxswain for the G1 boat, must call out the different stroke rates to her rowers basedon the race plan as well as data from the boat’s electronic instruments and what’s going on around them. “Win-ning a crew race all comes down to how well the rowers and coxswains can work together and adapt,” she says.“[I] must earn the trust of the rowers who are sitting backward and have no clue what is going on out of the boat;they look to [me] to know what place they are in and how effective they are being.”

During the season, rowers are often shifted within a boat and between boats during practices. Morrisdescribes the challenging balance they are trying to achieve: “You have people who row port, people who rowstarboard, people who row both sides, people who are tall, people who are short . . . leaders, followers, well-rest-ed and consistent performers. You have to put them in the right order in the boat. I changed the order in theG1 boat and it went from tied with the G2 boat to seven lengths [of] open water ahead. It’s amazing how muchdifference it can make.”

The time on the water each season is relatively short, so the coaches finalize their respective boat crews duringthe last few weeks leading up to the New England championship races, and sometimes only days before. Duringthis time, the coaches also devise a race strategy and implement it during practice sessions. “There are some thingsthat are formulaic,” Morris says, “[like] the start of the race, settling into your rhythm and [the] sprint at the finish.Within that, there is a strategy and different ways to plan the race. The more experienced the crew, the more youcan do that.”

In the end, it all comes down to Michaels, Drury and the other crew members pushing their boats off from thedock on race day. “We cannot coach them during a race,” says English Instructor Becky Moore P’03, P’05, P’08,who coaches the G3 and G4 boats. “When they’re out on the water, it’s a completely teenage operation.”

What follows is a look at that operation, from the inside out.


Sports

Inside the Shell THE ART AND SCIENCE BEHIND EXETER CREWBy Mike Catano

PEA boys crew at a

meet in late April.

MA

RK

DR

URY

P’1

4


The Boat

Coxswain Stern Pair Engine

The Race

From Bow to Stern A LOOK AT THE COMPLEX NATURE

Designed for eight rowers plus a coxswain, the boats used in PEA rowing are manufacturedfor speed and are highly customizable. Boats are made out of carbon fiber-reinforced plasticand average about 60 feet long, with a maximum width of 22 inches. Once coaches assign thefinal crew, the boat rig is fully customized: Oarlock placement and the location and angle offoot plates, for example, can be adjusted on an individual basis.

When the starter’s voice calls, “Attention, go,” the coxswain and stroke work to executethe coach’s strategy in order to outpace the competing boats. During the roughly five-minute race, the coxswain tracks elapsed time, stroke rate and the location of the other

Coxswain: Voice of the boat.Discusses race plan withthe coach and also with thecrew. Has the accelerator—sets stroke rate and com-municates ongoing racestatus to crew. Calls tocrew to get maximum performance during race.

Stroke: Critical rower who setsthe stroke rate for the entireboat based on the coxswain’scommands. Must possess therhythm and confidence to es-tablish and execute consistentstrokes throughout a race. Thestroke must be strong enoughto set up a stroke that the restof the boat can follow.

Stroke 7: Works to mirrorthe body mechanics of thelead stroke, from hip posi-tioning to oar placement,to further establish thestroke rate for the rest ofthe boat. The two seatsare often referred to asthe stern pair.

5 Start Strokes

10-20 High 10 Settle toBase Pace

10 PowerStrokes

10 Base Pace 10 Power 10 Base Pace10 Base Pace

5 Flutter

The start requires a succession of partialstrokes of increasing length to get the boatup to speed as quickly as possible.

A flutter is akin to the start, where the crewmust deliver quick, powerful strokes to surgeahead during critical moments in the race.

The coxswainsteers the boatusing left/right cables attached to the stern’s rudder.

To maximize performance, acoxswain relies on a “cox box”—a digital display of data includingelapsed time and stroke rate,which is generated as a magneton the stroke seat passes over areceptor on the deck.

Speakers are dis-tributed throughoutthe boat to broad-cast the coxswain’scalls to the crew.

Halfway >

Stroke 8 Stroke 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

500 Meters > 750 Meters >

Start 70 strokes gone >

About 1 minute, 40 seconds >

90 strokes gone >About 2 minutes, 30 seconds >

DA

N M

AH

R

JOHN REICHENBACH ’76


Rower 3 Bow Pair

OF ROWING

Lighter rowers whose finesse helps keep the bowlight and the boat set, or balanced. “Fast-twitch”athletes are needed here so they can keep up withthe rate initiated from the stroke rower. Rowerswho can anticipate the catch (when the oar bladeenters the water) are ideal for these positions.

boats, making frequent calls to the rowers for changes in stroke rate and effort. Abase rate of 36 strokes per minute is typical but the final sprint may demand an in-tense stretch of 40 strokes per minute. The graphic shows an example of a race plan.

Engine: The crew’smore powerful row-ers, whose purpose isto put their strengthbehind each strokebased on the pace setby the stroke.

10 Power 10 Base Pace 10 Power 10 Power 10 Power

10 Base Pace

A stable rower whose skillstransition from the power ofthe “engine” to the fast-response bow rowers.

On average, a crew will com-plete 180 strokes by the finishline of a five-minute race.

When the coxswain calls for “power,”the crew must deliver the next 10strokes at maximum effort.

The coxswain will callfor a sprint during thelast 500 meters.

Sports

The angle of the rowingshoes, which are builtinto a foot stretcher, iscustomized to eachrower.

The oars are typically carbon fiber shaftsthat vary in diameter and length; the at-tached blades can also vary in shape,which allows for a high degree of cus-tomization. A proper stroke has the oarshaft dipping 8 inches into the water.

5 Flutter 5 Flutter

10 Base Pace

4 3 2 1

5 1000 Meters > 1500 Meters >

Finish

125 strokes gone >About 3 minutes, 20 seconds >

180 strokes gone >About 5 minutes >

10 Power

UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL PHOTOS MIKE CATANO

F


Sports

AC

B

H

D

G

E

SpringSports

I

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37SUMMER 2013 The Exeter Bulletin PHOTOS BY MIKE CATANO EXCEPT FOR (E) ROBERT BAILEY AND (D), (K), (L) CONNOR BLOOM ’15.

M

L

(A) BaseballRecord: 13-7New England ChampionshipQuarterfinalistHead Coach: Bill DennehyAssistant Coach: Dana BarbinCaptain: Hunter Carey ’13MVP: Hunter Carey

(B) Boys CrewRecord: 5-5NEIRA Championship WinnerHead Coach: Albert LegerAssistant Coaches: Tyler Caldwell,Greg SpanierCaptains: Denis Rondeau ’13,Mark Serbent ’13MVP: Finn Meeks ’13

(C) Girls CrewRecord: 9-1NEIRA Championship WinnerHead Coach: Sally MorrisAssistant Coach: Becky MooreCaptains: Karla Beltran ’13,Catherine Denton ’13MVP: Emily Ball ’13

(D) Boys and Girls CyclingRecord: No record in dual races3rd in NERCL Series ChampionshipHead Coach: Don MillsAssistant Coaches: Vicki Baggia,Steve WilsonCaptains: Gene Young Chang ’13,Joonhyuk Yang ’13MVP: Rohan Pavuluri ’14

(E) Boys and Girls GolfRecord: 6-6-1Head Coach: Bob BaileyAssistant Coach: Joanna RoCaptains: Ryuta Oku ’13, Nissim Ray ’13MVP: Kyle Alexander ’14

(F) Boys LacrosseRecord: 14-5Head Coach: Eric BergofskyAssistant Coach: Bill GlennonCaptains: Forrest Corcoran ’13,Christopher Keating ’13, Nicholas Weigel ’13MVP: Matthew Ryan ’13

(G) Girls LacrosseRecord: 6-9Head Coach: Christina BreenAssistant Coaches: Shane LaPointe,Keslie TomlinsonCaptains: Darby Henry ’13,Gabriella Wozniak ’13MVP: Gabriella Wozniak

(H) SoftballRecord: 9-8Head Coach: Nancy ThompsonAssistant Coach: Erin MitchellCaptains: Paula Gaither ’13, Ashley Metcalf ’13MVP: Ashley Metcalf

(I) Boys A TennisRecord: 7-4Head Coach: Tony GreeneCaptains: Henry Cilek ’13, Kelvin Lee ’13MVP: Kenneth Tao ’15

(J) Girls A TennisRecord: 3-4Head Coach: Jean Chase FarnumCaptains: Giulia Olsson ’13, Nicole Yoon ’13MVPs: Giulia Olsson, Nicole Yoon

(K) Boys TrackRecord: 12-0New England ChampionsHead Coach: Hilary CoderAssistant Coaches: Sami Atif, Toyin Augustus-Ikwuakor, HobartHardej, Mark Hiza, AK Ikwuakor,Brandon Newbould, Francis Ronan,Bruce ShangCaptain: Alexander Yang ’13MVP: Tyler Courville ’14

(L) Girls TrackRecord: 10-0New England ChampionsHead Coach: Hilary CoderAssistant Coaches: Sami Atif, Toyin Augustus-Ikwuakor, HobartHardej, Mark Hiza, AK Ikwuakor,Brandon Newbould, Francis Ronan,Bruce ShangCaptain: Haley Baker ’13MVP: Haley Baker

(M) Girls Water PoloRecord: 8-73rd in New England ChampionshipHead Coaches: Andrew McTammany ’04, Melissa PacificCaptains: Mariah Mastrodimos ’13,Catharine Shipps ’13MVP: Catharine Shipps

Editor’s Note: In the winter 2013Bulletin, we neglected to list KelvinLee ’13 as a co-captain of the boysvarsity squash team.

K

More than 30 years after Orville and Wilbur Wright glided their bare-winged, boxy aircraft—the Wright Fly-er—just 10 feet off the ground, Fred E. Culick ’52 discovered he shared the brothers’ passion for flying machines.When Culick was a tyke, the distant groaning of an engine overhead would drive him out of the house. Neck

strained, eyes up, he would search the skies over Camden, ME. When he was 5, he remembers attending his first gasmodel airplane competition with his mother. These were the seeds that ultimately led to a career in aerodynamicsand a passion for building model and actual-sized replicas of the Wright Flyer.

Exeter’s physics and chemistry classes helped solidify Culick’s interest in the sciences, and he says, “I was torn

between going into physics [or] aeronautics when I was at MIT, but flying won out.” Culick left MIT with undergrad-

uate and graduate degrees in aeronautics and astronautics and was immediately hired at the California Institute of

Technology, where he has taught and conducted research ever since. He is currently the Richard L. and Dorothy M.

Hayman Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Professor of Jet Propulsion, Emeritus

“Flying is not the exciting part,” he says. “The fun

part is building the airplane, making sure it’s going to

work right. You know that saying, ‘A good landing is

when you can walk away and a great landing is when you

can fly the plane again.’ ”

In 1977 Culick saw the first replica of the Wright

1903 Flyer at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. “I

was amazed I didn’t know more about the way the

plane was made,” he says, like, “Why did the Wrights

put the tail in front?”

With a NASA grant, Culick decided to build and test

a one-sixth scale model of the Flyer in Caltech’s wind

tunnel. While this project was under way, a fire at the

San Diego museum destroyed the Flyer replica. Culick

quickly volunteered for the Wright Flyer Project, an ini-

tiative by the American Institute of Aeronautics and

Astronautics (AIAA) to build a new replica of the

famous plane—one that could fly.

Culick offered to provide the initial data and flight

characteristics from testing his model so the group

could make any minor design adjustments to the full-scale version (to ensure its stability and safety). In exchange,

Culick asked to be made the replica’s first pilot and was appointed the project’s chief engineer.

When the NASA Ames Research Laboratory offered its large wind tunnel for testing a full-scale aircraft, the proj-

ect members decided to build such a model (the AIAA 1903 Wright Flyer) to test at NASA and then a second air-

craft to fly.

It took the next 20 years (mostly Saturdays) for the volunteers to complete the AIAA Flyer, but it was finished

with testing completed in time for it to tour more than 40 U.S. states, where it was exhibited to more than 40,000

students as part of the Wright Flyer’s 100th anniversary in 2003. This model is now on display in the Los Angeles office

of the Federal Aviation Administration.

In his NASA Quest online biography, Culick writes of the original 1903 Wright Flyer, “It began all flying every-

where. It led to airlines, to warplanes, airplanes that you and I can fly, and eventually to the Space Shuttle. …It is very

important, as part of our heritage, to understand what the Wright Brothers did, how they did it…and finally how their

airplane worked.”

Culick is among five core project participants who continue to spend every Saturday morning tinkering with the

replica that will fly. Last fall, the aircraft taxied down a runway with success. The actual flight test, where Culick will

be strapped in, facedown, to pilot the craft, was imminent as of press time. This Wright Flyer is expected to travel a

projected 1,000 feet at 35 miles per hour.

—Famebridge Witherspoon


Connections

EXONIAN PROFILE

FRED E . CULICK ’ 5 2

How Fancy Took Flight

Fred Culick '52 taxisdown a runway in areplica of theWright Flyer.


Connections

EXONIAN PROFILE

BETSY WILL IAMSON ’ 8 8

Designing Livable ArtBetsy Williamson ’88 is an artist. Her medium is wood, her palette is

very large, and her official job title is architect, but in Williamson’smind, the two disciplines are inextricably linked. “Part of being a

good architect is being visually astute,” she asserts. Williamson first real-ized the incredibly expressive power of her profession during her final yearat Exeter. “I took my first architecture course, as well as one in art history,my senior year,” she recalls, “and together they opened my eyes to whatthe profession can be. Today design is part of my life, but at that point it wasa revelation to me!”

Williamson continued her education in architecture and the arts after

departing Exeter, earning a B.A. in architecture from Barnard College in

1992 and a professional Master in Architecture degree from Harvard Uni-

versity in 1997. And what she discovered in the course of her studies is that

one can’t separate the two disciplines. “Studying great art at the same

time that I was learning about how materials work in three dimensions

changed my life,” she observes. “I learned how to think in the right way—

about proportion, color, how one lives in a space, and how the dimensions

of the space relate to the human body, among other things.”

It is obviously a lesson that Williamson learned well; she and her part-

ners (husband Shane Williamson and Donald Chong) at the architectural

firm Williamson Chong were recently awarded the Professional Prix de

Rome in Architecture from the Canada Council for the Arts. The award

was given to the firm “for their efforts to unlock the design potential of

new wood products and create buildings that are as beautiful as they are ecologically sound.” The award is a major

accomplishment for the firm, not only for the valuable exposure if affords, but also for the generous prize ($50,000)

that accompanies it. The firm enters a number of competitions every year, both local and international, to keep their

skills sharp, Williamson explains. Because the majority of Williamson Chong’s projects are residential while the

design competitions are usually for institutional spaces, they offer Williamson and her colleagues a chance to “exer-

cise their design muscles” on a larger scale.

The firm’s winning submission, “Living Wood,” outlined a plan for exploring innovative wood technology within a

broader cultural and ecological context, with a particular focus on a new product called cross-laminated timber. The

partners are focusing their explorations on Europe and Asia, visiting buildings and production facilities and meeting

with industry manufacturers, researchers, designers and writers in each country. Williamson and her husband and

daughter recently returned from their first excursion for the project—a three-week journey to Scandinavia—and she

is brimming with enthusiasm. “Nothing can replace seeing iconic work in person or meeting with people face to

face,” Williamson asserts. “It’s invaluable to meet with others in the field and learn more about how they work—

we’re discovering that there are many common challenges in our profession. We’re always seeking ways to further

our education—the broader our knowledge base, the more innovative we can be while still keeping our practice

viable.”

Education is a common theme in Williamson’s life. In addition to maintaining a thriving practice, she also teach-

es graduate students in the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design,

and serves on a number of design review committees in the city of Toronto. She is particularly interested in mentor-

ing young women in the field. “Architecture is still a profession where all of the stars are men,” Williamson observes.

“Within the university system, the gender balance is virtually 50/50, but the number of women who actually go on to

practice architecture is much lower.” Because Williamson has found her career so rewarding, she’d like to see those

statistics change. “The field of architecture is not just about studying,” she concludes, “it’s about making it your

career.”

—Lori Ferguson

Betsy Williamson’88 in her firm’s office, with partnersDonald Chong andher husband, ShaneWilliamson.


Connections

College internships in reality TV and fashion design were the unconventional paths that led Dr. Cindy Chang ’02to a career in medicine. A Cornell engineering undergrad who’d toyed with attending art school, Chang spenttwo summers assisting in the production of three “pretty trashy” TV shows filmed in trailer parks. Chang, who’d

lived in some 25 cities in Japan, the United States and Taiwan, was alarmed by the public health issues she observed there.

“I thought that if even in the U.S. something like this was going on,” she says, “then clearly there were a lot of peo-

ple who were worse off [worldwide].”

The following year, on a lark Chang applied for an internship with fash-

ion brand Donna Karan. The fast pace there, Chang now realizes, pre-

pared her for work in emergency medicine. Though she was offered

full-time jobs after both internships, Chang realized neither was her ulti-

mate goal. She adds, however, “Because of those experiences, I have a

much better sense of how one area of the world affects another.”

Chang completed her undergraduate degree in three years, but

stayed one more to earn a master’s in engineering before taking a job at

the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA. She was researching cancer

genomics when her boss’s unadulterated joy over the successful growth

of a bacterium spurred her in a different direction. “My reaction to that

petri dish was, ‘Oh great, it grew, and we don’t have to do it again,’ ”

Chang says, “but he was ecstatic.” So Chang sought a career that would

be genuinely fulfilling.

This May, she graduated from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve Uni-

versity, whose five-year program requires one year of research as part of the degree. Thus began a dizzying,

globe-hopping tour of underserved areas and low-resource communities, starting with a Fellowship at

Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics. That experience quickly proved invaluable. “When you have

resource constraints, a lot of ethical issues come up,” Chang says.

In Malawi, she spent a year helping to run a pediatric malnutrition project and supervised 18 mobile feed-

ing clinics, requiring hours of travel to remote locations; despite those efforts, children died from malnutrition

at an alarming rate. She also managed two randomized clinical trials on diagnosing and treating acute malnu-

trition, information that the World Food Programme was eager to use in its programs. In recognition of that work,

Chang was named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” in December 2012, and was profiled in the Science & Healthcare cat-

egory.

She’s also managed to fit in time in Khayelitsha, South Africa, a township outside Cape Town, where she worked a

trauma rotation. She completed required rotations in Boston and Cleveland, and then headed to a Navajo reserva-

tion in Arizona to learn about midwifery, which she cites as another method for improving health care access in low-

resource areas.

Not resting, Chang has worked in a Nepalese clinic (climbing to the Mount Everest base camp because it was

there); assisted in a primary care/orthopedics clinic in Big Sky, MT, where she was able to snowboard right out of the

office; and spent a month on a boat clinic in Tonle Sap, Cambodia. She’s now set to begin a residency in emergency

medicine at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital..

Chang has already agreed to return to Malawi for at least part of the six-month elective portion of her residency,

determined to help with what she sees as a fixable problem in the global health arena.

“We already know what it is that we need to do to treat these kids,” she says. “We have the knowledge; we have

the resources. It’s very much an engineering supply-chain distribution issue.” That’s at the root of most of Chang’s

ventures: “The theme in all this is I’m trying to figure out how people get resources to places that don’t have them,

and how to do it in an efficient, long-term, sustainable way.”

—Sarah Zobel

EXONIAN PROFILE

DR. C INDY CHANG ’ 0 2

Tackling Global Health Issues Head On

Cindy Chang ’02spent a year inMalawi working tomitigate malnutri-tion in children.


collective reactions and suggestions as thesemodels continue to develop.Thursday evening was devoted to a dinnerin honor of two retiring trustees: Alan Jones’72 and Rob Silberman ’76; P’07, P’12.Several trustees began Friday morning bymeeting with the students and faculty whohad traveled to India over spring break. TheTrustees were pleased to hear the trip detailsfrom the participants and to discuss theseglobal experiences in Harkness fashion. Laterthat morning, the Trustees took time fromtheir sessions to attend the assembly and theFounder’s Day Award speech delivered bythis year’s recipient Susan Herney ’69, ’74,’83 (Hon.), emerita dean of students.Following the assembly, the Trustees read acitation honoring Julie Quinn for her 16years of distinguished service as the Acade-my’s director of communications. Director ofCollege Counseling Betsy Dolan then dis-cussed the changing landscape of collegeadmissions and the importance of differenti-ating Exeter candidates in an increasinglycompetitive pool of applicants. Director ofAdmissions Michael Gary P’06, P’11 report-ed on the Academy’s high yield of acceptedstudents this spring, particularly in the prepclass, and on our ongoing efforts to recruit themost promising candidates from all quarters. Dean of Faculty Ron Kim talked aboutthe recruitment efforts regarding Exeter’sfaculty. He also presented a new programthat will provide support and lodging fortwo dissertation fellows from underrepre-sented groups during the next academicyear, so these doctoral candidates can con-tinue their research and writing. The Dis-sertation Year Fellowship program ismodeled after the Academy’s highly suc-cessful Bennett Fellowship program. Deanof Students Melissa Mischke and InterimDean of Multicultural Affairs RussellWeatherspoon ’01, ’03, ’08, ’11 (Hon.);P’92, P’95, P’97, P’01 spoke to the Trusteesabout the work of the Advising Committee,which will bring final recommendations tothe faculty and principal.The remainder of Friday was devoted toa conversation with Academy members ofthe Performing Arts Review Committee,who underscored the need for new facilitiesand reviewed initial thoughts on how wewill begin to raise funds in support of thisproject. Both the Trustees and PrincipalHassan have declared this new performing

Trustee Roundup(continued from page 5)

arts facility as the Academy’s top fundraisingobjective.The Trustees’ time on campus endedwith a dinner at Saltonstall House, at whichthe retiring faculty members in attendancewere honored. The Trustees appreciated thewarm welcome they received from staff,faculty and students and look forward toreturning to campus in October for theirnext meeting.

anybody might want. When I was principalat Exeter, if I couldn’t change thingsovernight, I was pretty good about saying,‘What can we do right now?’ We can sureas heck improve faculty salaries. There’salways good on-the-ground work, andthen you can work patiently and persist-ently at the larger issues. If you can’t fixeverything right now, you don’t have totwiddle your thumbs.”“That’s our largest topic of conversation:

She tells me to slow down,” Lehman agrees.“If you see the change that has to happen,don’t wait. You’ve got to make the changeseven if they’re unpopular. But you also haveto…think about it, and ask yourself, ‘Is thisa change [I] have to make now?’ ”Key to making change, O’Donnell

advises, is finding the common ground thatunites both you and those who may holddiffering viewpoints. “At Exeter, the biggestcommon ground was academic rigor, theacademic success of students,” she says.“Everyone agreed that was the school’smost important mission. Over time, wewere able to demonstrate that gratuitoussuffering was not a requirement for aca-demic rigor. I tried to show that in chang-ing the culture of the school, we are notgoing to lose what we value most; in fact wemight do a better job of realizing what wevalue most.” O’Donnell also encouragesteam building: “It’s important to under-stand that you always have allies. We some-times concentrate on the people we thinkwill fight us, when in fact, the people weshould concentrate on are the people whounderstand the situation as we do.”Having O’Donnell as an ally has con-

tributed to Lehman’s strength in his posi-tion. “As a new young headmaster, whenI can say I’ve spoken with Kendra and sheagrees, it’s like the stamp, ‘Approved by

Table Talk(continued from page 10)

Inspector No. 7.’ ‘Approved by KendraO’Donnell’ lends some weight.” Lehmanadds that sometimes the resume of hismentor can be a little intimidating. “I wasafraid after she came to visit The Hill andpresented to the board that they mightscrap me and get her instead,” he laughs.O’Donnell points out that even though

she’s the mentor in this relationship, thereis a lot she has learned from Lehman.“There is so much around us that coulddiscourage us, but working with Zackreminds me of the virtues of enthusiasm,of ambition in the nicest sense, of realdesire to make things better, of intelligencebrought to bear on a task,” she declares.“I’ve also learned from him that somethings that seem obvious are not obvious.When you get to my age, you have fullyformed responses to things. Working withZack has taught me to open my mind, tobe open to discovery. In helping him toslow down and look at things, I havelearned to do the same.”Sharing an Exeter background has also

been a binding force. “I had a very goodrelationship with [Kendra] when I was atExeter,” Lehman says, “[but] like any 16-or 17-year-old, I didn’t always realizewhat she was doing when I was there.When I came back [later] and saw thedevelopment of the campus, the facultyand the mission of the school, I realized inretrospect how much she had done.”O’Donnell adds, “I’ve been in other

mentorship positions, and this is somehowdifferent because we share that [Exeter]experience. Zack for me exemplifies whatit means to be an Exonian. He has a verystrong sense of right and wrong. He hasvalues that [would make] Exeter proud.Those values show themselves in how youtreat people. I think it’s a shared under-standing of what needs to be preserved asyou move forward, the understanding ofthe importance of human relationships.”Though their formal relationship con-

cludes in July, Lehman knows he will beable to reach out to O’Donnell in thefuture. In the meantime, the imprint of theiryearlong connection remains with him. “Kendra’s guidance certainly has helped

me be more confident in my decisions andactions in my first year,” he says, “and shehas helped me to understand the more sub-tle aspects of this job, find joy in school life,make time for my family, and stay true tomy values and ideals.”


Memorial Minute

Charles Wolsey “Charlie” Pratt ’52;ENGLISH INSTRUCTOR AND DIRECTOR OF THE BENNETT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM ( 1 9 3 5 – 2 0 1 2 )

Charles Wolsey Pratt ’52; ’72 (Hon.); P’83 ’84 was born inBoston on June 1, 1935. He attended the Fenn School inConcord, MA, then matriculated at Phillips Exeter

Academy, graduating in 1952. Inhis ninth-grade year, he had thepluck to challenge Charles Dick-ens, writing in a letter to his par-ents that A Tale of Two Cities wassimply a “mess,” composed “as ifDickens was purposely trying tomix the reader up.” Such preco-cious literary confidence perhapsforeshadowed Charlie’s going onto win the Manley Prize for lowerEnglish, the Merr ill Pr ize forupper English and the LamontPrize for senior English. He alsoearned letters in soccer, hockeyand lacrosse, thereby contradictinghis nickname, “Homunculus.”Charlie moved on to Princeton

where he earned an A.B. in Englishwith high honors. Also, as a senior,he was awarded the William B.Blackwell Trophy, Princeton’s mostsignificant recognition of a hockeyplayer. Following his graduation in1956, he served two years as an offi-cer in the Navy, after which hebegan his career as a teacher at theNarragansett Regional High School in Baldwinville, MA. In thespring of 1960, he accepted a position at Phillips Exeter Acade-my as one of the first two teaching fellows at the Academy. The year following, he accepted a position at the Pomfret

School, where he and his wife, Joanie ’72 (Hon.); P’83, P’84,stayed for five satisfying years. In 1966, he returned to Phillips ExeterAcademy as a full-time member of the English Department. Twoyears later, the administration granted him an Academy leave fora year of study in Cambridge, England, where he earned a Diplo-ma in English Studies. He then resumed teaching at Exeter, liv-ing in Amen Hall, coaching at different times both the boys varsityand the girls varsity hockey teams—the latter for five key years inits evolution—serving on the Executive Committee, the Committeeto Enhance the Status of Women, the Ninth-Grade ProgramCommittee, the Agenda Committee, the Lamont Poetry Committee,and in 1981 the Bi-Centennial Committee, chairing the arts com-

ponent of the celebration. In the meantime he managed anotherextended stay in Europe, this time as the English teacher in SchoolYear Abroad France during 1975–76. The love of France and the

French that grew in both thePratts led to five summer tripsto Brittany with Exeter stu-dents in which they all workedon the restoration of an oldchapel. It also led locally to apopular creperie that he andJoanie ran out of their ElliotStreet home on Saturday nights,to the delight of students in theearly days of coeducation. In anote to Charlie before his death,one Exonian said simply: “Youand Mrs. Pratt played a majorrole in my senior year: Thecrepes you served up with hotcider were one of my greatestsources of pleasure.”Charlie played a major role

for many in the classroom aswell. In a letter of condolencesto Joanie, one graduate spoke formany: “What I most appreciat-ed were his patience with meand his apparent intuition thatthere was some reason I want-ed to be writing.” Patient, gen-

tle, soft-spoken: words that appear again and again in reference toCharlie Pratt as a teacher. Casual acquaintances might even havecharacterized Charlie as mild-mannered to the point of passivity,but they would have been wrong; many letters to the Academy’sadministration make clear just how forthright and firm he couldbe. A champion of students receiving financial aid and alwaysurging expansion of its program, he proclaimed in a letter toPrincipal Steve Kurtz ’44, ’46, ’78, ’87 (Hon.); P’77 in 1978: “I’mwilling to be the underpaid teacher of students of all backgroundswho themselves are willing to sacrifice some comfort in order tolearn, but I’m not willing to be the underpaid servant of the rich.I’ll give myself away, in other words, but I don’t want to be soldcheap.” To that comment he added: “. . . without a full scholar-ship budget, the more the school costs, the less it’s worth.” In 1984, Charlie and Joanie left their home near campus for

an orchard in Brentwood named Apple Annie. Lines from Char-

Charlie Pratt (middle) with BrooksMoriarty ’87 and Emeritus English

Instructor Bill Hagen.


lie’s poem, “Into Place,” characterize the move:

It’s not so much a departure as an arrival,Or rather, a having arrived—as when, out driving,You pass an orchard on a southward hill,Old apple trees aslant in heaps of prunings.For Sale. . . .

So the sign said, and so they bought it. For each of the nexttwo years, Charlie took a personal leave during the first semesterto learn the orchardist’s trade and to ply his poet’s craft. The lat-ter he did alone, but the former he did, as always, with Joanie. Theylearned together, they harvested together, they sold their producetogether, and in the winter they pruned together, stooping low asthey prepared the trees for the spring bloom. The final lines of “AfterPruning” bespeak that partnership:

But now this pause after the snow has melted,Before the blunt thrust of bud and bulb,We have this hurried stooping along together,So much like love.

This work together led to a co-authored book entitled Take theApple, a mix of essays, poems and recipes. Charlie and Joanie Pratt,Joanie and Charlie Pratt: Names linked in so many endeavors. From 1986 to 1991, Charlie taught two sections of English per

semester and was a member of the Bennett Fellow Committee.In 1991, he left behind his classroom in Phillips Hall to attend morefully to his work as an orchardist-poet, a kind of Wendell Berryof New Hampshire, and that work led to delicious hand-pressedcider and to his first book of poems, aptly titled In the Orchard. Clear-ly, his experience living and working at Apple Annie was provingto be, as he put it, “Most fruitful, pomiculturally and poetically.”All the while, however, he remained committed to the work withthe Bennett Fellow program, becoming its director in 1991, a posi-tion he held until he stepped down in 2008. Elias Kulukundis ’55had established the program in 1968, honoring George Bennett’23; P’60, whom he deemed to be “the most significant influencein my becoming a writer.” Coincidentally, Charlie had also, threeyears earlier, studied with Bennett, and thought about him inequally appreciative terms. It is perhaps no surprise thereforewhen, at the occasion recognizing Charlie for more than 20 yearsof superb stewardship, Elias said of his friend that he “knew whatI wanted [with the fellowship] without our ever really talking aboutit.” Then, with an appreciation and respect he felt that friend hadearned, he added: “Charlie really created the fellowship.” Tributesfrom multiple winners of that fellowship attest to Charlie’s influ-ence on their lives as writers. One after another has offered a ver-sion of this simple description: “Charlie was inexhaustibly friendly,helpful, supportive.” A few recall that it was an encouraging notewritten in Charlie’s own hand that led them to react to the dis-appointing news that someone else had won the fellowship by apply-ing again another year. And not one would disagree with this playfulsummary assessment: “One firm apple, that Charlie Pratt—goodto the core.”Outside of the Academy community, Charlie worked unstint-

ingly for causes in which he believed. For many years he was thepresident of SAPL, the Seacoast Anti-Pollution League, which chal-lenged the licensing of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant. He wasa member of the Exeter Evacuation Committee, which drew up

plans for an evacuation in the case of a nuclear accident. And hewas a member of the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire fromthe days when it was the Rockingham Land Trust. It is indicativeof his and Joanie’s influence in this area that in 2005, they earnedthe Jack Heath Conservation Award from the land trust. And it isreflective of their love of the land that they were founding mem-bers of Willow Pond Farm, a community-supported agriculturalproject that enjoys a healthy life to this day.But however engaged publicly Charlie was as a political activist

or a teacher of English or a sensitive mentor to young writers ora determined orchardist, he was privately always a poet, a poet witha subtle and substantial and ever-probing mind. At the end of hispoem “Spray or Pray,” he asks a basic question:

In what then do I have faith,The way at night, going from barn to house,The body knows its way without misstep:Assumes the invisible orchard?

The question mark that concludes that sentence marks him asa man who lived in the gray area, an area of uncertainty. In thefinal two lines of “Stones,” the word “almost” hints at the samephilosophical stance:

And he is grateful for [stones],Presences he can almost count on.

In a letter to a colleague, Charlie wrote: “I fear people with tooclear a vision of how things ought to be, with too clear a map; I pre-fer to feel my way along.” At the same time, he described his life as“a search for some relative stability and the discovery of it in the grasp-ing of essentially unstable things: human relations and nature.” Only in the final two years of his life did Charlie’s poetry begin

to get the national attention it deserved. The publication in 2010of From the Box Marked Some Are Missing: New & Selected Poemswas greeted with strong support from such notables as X.J. Kennedyand Maxine Kumin, as well as from former Bennett Fellow IlyaKaminsky, but it was Garrison Keillor who brought Charlie’s nameinto the national literary conversation by choosing to read four ofhis poems in three different airings of “The Writer’s Almanac.”Each November the English Department holds an annual

“[Thomas] Hardy Party,” based on that author’s evocations of theapproach of winter. The department’s retired colleagues are invit-ed to the party, and the eldest in attendance reads a passage fromThe Return of the Native, a rousing call for fortitude in the face ofthe coming seasonal darkness. In the fall of 2011, Charlie read thepassage. Toward the end of the party, English Instructor Brooks Mori-arty ’87 asked that a picture be taken of him and Charlie, in thatCharlie had been his teacher when Brooks was a student at PhillipsExeter Academy. It was to be Charlie’s last Hardy Party, but thephotograph stands as a testament to the passing of the torch fromone generation to the next. At their 40th reunion in May of 2012, the class of ’72 made

Charlie an honorary member. From the presentation statement,Gussie Wilson ’72; P’00, P’03, P’06 read the following, an echoof what Charlie himself said of George Bennett: “[Charlie] madehis students feel respected and smart. So it was safe—good, even—to listen to how you felt and allow it to be written down. His man-ner was quiet and encouraging, allowing students to find ways tomake their writing better by being still, by observing.” Being still,


Memorial Minute

Born in Middletown, PA, in 1930, David E. Thomasreceived his bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg Collegeand his master’s from the University of Pittsburgh, after

which he taught for one year at Deerfield Academy and three atPhillips Andover. David joined the faculty of Phillips ExeterAcademy in 1957 and retired in 1996. A firm believer in thevalue of travel for a student of classics, David attended The Amer-ican School of Classical Studies in Athens in the summer of 1953and the American Academy in Rome and the Villa Vergiliana inthe summer of 1956.At the department party in honor of his retirement, David’s

colleagues presented him with a granite stone to be placedalongside the tree planted on campus in honor of his 25th year asan instructor. The inscription included an excerpt from Vergil’s“Aeneid,” pietate gravem ac meritis virum, “a man weighty withdevotion and accomplishments.” These Latin terms, with theirconnotations of dedication to duty, of firmness, and of influenceearned by astute and thoughtful service, suit David perfectly, forhe was absolutely devoted to the Academy. He never shirked hisresponsibilities and volunteered his time generously in all aspectsof the life of the school. In addition to teaching, coaching anddormitory service, he also worked on countless committees andserved as director of College Placement from 1970 to 1975, deanof students from 1975 to 1980, chair of the Classical LanguagesDepartment from 1982 to 1990, and clerk of the Trustees from1990 to 1993. Yet above David’s dedication to Exeter stood hisdedication to basic decency and fairness. His caring treatment ofeveryone with whom he dealt, no matter their role at the school,brought him enormous respect and the additional responsibilityof acting as mentor and adviser to anyone who sought the unbi-ased, honest opinion of a person of experience and principlednature. This combination of principle and devotion also meant

that he knew well both the strengths and weaknesses of thishuman institution and that he felt free to speak frankly hisapproval or disapproval of how the business of the school wasconducted. Though proud of his accomplishments, David alsohad an inherent humility. When presented with the aforemen-tioned stone, he at first did not even imagine the true extent ofthe compliment, which was to liken him to Vergil’s ideal states-man, but simply thanked his colleagues for including one of hisfavorite lines of Vergil.David’s classes were rigorous, and challenging; he expected the

highest standards of behavior and integrity. As in all he did atExeter, he was fearless in upholding the standards of the schooland of his department. Once, while he was chair, another memberof the department proudly presented him with a programdesigned to compute the average grade on a test and then adjustall the grades to fit the instructor, or department’s, preferred, i.e.,higher, average. An honorable man who did not believe in fudg-ing numbers or cooking the books, David was thoroughly horri-fied. Yet this firmness was balanced always by respect for hisstudents and by the absence of histrionics or favoritism. His teach-ing, and so his classes and the texts he taught, were enlivened byhis deep love for, devotion to, and curiosity about the Classics.When a student was facing difficulties, whether academic or per-sonal, David was understanding and patient, as well as generous inoffering a kindly ear or extra help with Latin or Greek. David’scontributions in athletics were also considerable, and as a coach oftennis and squash, he was as helpful to, and influential on, his play-ers as he was with students in the classroom.Everywhere he worked was enlivened also by his dry, infectious

sense of humor. Those who knew him soon came to recognize thetwinkle in his eye when he observed something foolish or slightlyabsurd, such as when he was successfully pulling your leg. On one

David E. ThomasGEORGE SHATTUCK MORISON PROFESSOR OF LATIN AND CHAIR OF THE CLASSICAL LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT, EMERITUS (1930–2012 )

observing: How apt for the approach that Charlie took morebroadly to life, and to writing about life. That approach, plus hispowerful mind and his remarkable touch with language, led, in hispoem “Wolsey’s Hole,” to the following lines, now so poignant:

. . . . Can I learnTo think of death not as infinite contraction,Curtains closed over midnight, but as curtains drawn backTo let in the moon and the stars, the whole horizon,To let in the dead and the living—a rope thrown downTo haul me from the hole of my heart, all dripping and shining?

In 2008, Charlie had published a chapbook entitled Still Here.The title poem ends with the line: “When a friend calls to tell usanother friend has died.” On May 27, 2012, that phone call, those

phone calls, had to be made, for Charlie Pratt, friend to so many,had died. His stirring voice had been stilled. But that voice speak-ing in his poetry allows us to throw down the rope of our atten-tion and haul from the hole of the heart a presence we can indeedcount on. We are the better for having known him while he wasalive; we are the better for being nourished still by the enduringripeness of his verse.

This Memorial Minute was written by Peter Greer ’58; ’71, ’81, ’83, ’97,

’00 (Hon.); P’81, P’83, P’94; Todd Hearon; Ralph Sneeden ’98 (Hon.);

P’07, P’09, P’13; and David Weber ’71, ’74 (Hon.); P’92, and was pre-

sented at faculty meeting on April 29, 2013.


occasion, for instance, he convinced a gullible junior member ofhis department that he had been born and raised in Alaska, and thatthis was the reason for his legendary habit of throwing open thewindows of his classroom in the dead of winter.Because of his many talents and abilities, David served in sev-

eral administrative positions, but always as the servant of the fac-ulty and always ready to return to teaching and coaching, wherehe may have been happiest. David wasappointed dean of students in 1975just after Steven Kurtz was named the11th principal. Principal Kurtz hadbeen charged by the Trustees to“warm up” the school after a period ofrather tense and difficult relationsbetween faculty and the administra-tion. As dean, David’s even tempera-ment, sense of humor, keenorganization, and genuine care of stu-dents all contributed to making Exetera better place for students and facultyto live and grow. At the time, therewere those who felt that any hint ofwarming up the school would meannot only a quick decline in disciplinebut more importantly in academicrigor. David, in his steady, patient, calmmanner did a great deal to change thatview. He treated students with impar-tiality and kindness, such that eventhose students who were required to leave the school felt theyhad been listened to and treated fairly. David could also inter-vene in a contentious situation among adults, listen to all sides,stay calm and often manage to have all leave believing that theirclaim had won the day. He was a master at keeping even serioussituations in perspective. At the same time, he could be direct,when necessary, and even a little impatient, with students andparents. For example, after several occasions on which, in his roleas Dean, he called a parent about his or her child and was put onhold for a considerable time by the parent’s office assistant, headopted the following procedure: if he called a parent at theworkplace, which meant that the situation was a serious one, andthe assistant was directed to ask him to hold, David simply hungup and left it to the parent to return the call.Those who knew David benefited from association with one

of the most honorable people who have been part of the school,and those who became friends of David and his wife, EmeritaAcademy Librarian Jackie Thomas, were still more fortunate. Hewas unfailingly dedicated to friends, and he even became bothfriends with, and mentor to, some former students. One tellingstory relates how David and Jackie, while living in Ewald Hall,had stored a valuable musical instrument for a friend who hadleft Exeter to run the SYA Spain program. A year or so after leav-ing Ewald Hall—without the instrument—David wanted toretrieve it for his friend, but the current residents of the apart-ment had been unable to locate it. So concerned was Davidabout finding his friend’s possession that he underwent hypnosisto see if he could remember exactly where he had put it. Thoughthis approach proved unsuccessful, a second search finally did

turn up the instrument.Throughout his service to the Academy, David remained

devoted also to his family, in which he was the sole male. Onefamily dog, though female, was named “Charles” to providesome balance in the family. David spoke with pride about histhree daughters, who remain close though living in far-rangingparts of the world. While he and Jackie arrived at Exeter during

an era when faculty wives were oftenconsidered unpaid assistants to theirhusbands, they set an unparalleledexample of mutual support and of bal-ance. When Jackie began her ownwork in the Academy Library, Davidtook over the household chores andparental responsibilities that Jackie hadshouldered for many years. They weredevoted to one another and sharedmany interests—reading, travel, tennis,music, food and cooking—and theirfriends have many wonderful memo-ries of the social occasions in theirhome at 16 Elm Street, which is nowowned by the school and named theThomas House in David and Jackie’shonor through a gift of the class of1968. David’s contributions to Exeterwere also recognized by his beingappointed the George Shattuck Mori-son Professor of Latin and his receiv-

ing the Rupert Radford ’15 Distinguished Service Award(1988), the George S. Heyer Jr. ’48 Teaching Award (1995), andthe Founder’s Day Award (2000).Even in retirement, David participated actively in the life of

the Academy, in part through the reflected glory he gained byhis association with the head of the library, but also because heserved as an unpaid tutor to students having difficulty withLatin. When, in the late 1990s, the part-time classical languagesinstructor resigned abruptly, David, without fanfare, agreed toreturn to the classroom, a service for which his colleagues at thetime were very grateful and for which his students, whetherthey realized it at the time or not, were exceptionally fortunate.Even when he stepped down from part-time teaching, he main-tained close ties with the department and helped to welcomenew members.David passed away in his home in Newmarket, NH, on

December 2, 2012. He faced the health challenges late in his lifecalmly and matter-of-factly, with strength and stoicism. Heapproached them, in fact, with the same practicality and curiosi-ty that characterized his entire life, and he never lost the twinklein his eye. A favorite quotation of his was, “A man of courage cando without a reputation.” David Thomas’ reputation, however,will live on at Phillips Exeter Academy, and in the hearts of allwho knew him, for many, many years to come.

This Memorial Minute was written by David Arnold ’83 (Hon.); Paul Gold-

enheim ’68; Susan Herney; Paul Langford; Robert Shapiro; and Allan Wooley

Jr. ’54; P’84, and was presented at faculty meeting on May 13, 2013.

Dave Thomas received the

Founder’s Day Award in 2000.


Finis Origine Pendet

“For Ihavepressingbusiness toattend.”*By Ama Boah ’98

Ijust returned from my 15-year Exeter reunion. It was wonderful to reconnect with classmates, teammatesand dorm friends. The new buildings on campus are beautiful, and their more modern architecture seems tomeld seamlessly with the traditional brick with white window shutters of the past. Yet the moment thatstopped me in my tracks occurred while walking out to the football stadium and playing fields with my

partner, Conor. We had just finished watching the end of a softball game, and I was telling himabout the time during my prep year on the varsity softball team when I had lost the ball inthe sun. It landed right on my nose, which instantly started to bleed, and I had to sit inall of my afternoon classes and the dining hall with a giant ice pack on my face. Iremember being very embarrassed. As Conor and I approached the bridge to crossover to the fields, I mentioned how my teammates and I used to jump off of it onthe last day of practice each year. I then noticed a plaque on a rock with a dedica-tion to Hamilton “Hammy” Bissell ’29, signifying that the bridge was now knownas “Hammy’s Way.” I clutched hands over my heart and let the tears flow. I first met Hammy my prep

year when I played with his granddaughter on the softball team. He would pedal his bikeout to practice every day, sit on the bleachers and clap and cheer, occasionally ducking out

of the way of an errant foul ball. I did not know much about Hammy and his connection to Exeter,except that he was an alumnus who had worked in the Admissions Office for many years. He was the team’sunofficial grandfather, and his classic “Hammy Bars”—giant Cadbury Fruit & Nut [Milk] Chocolate Bars—were bestowed on us as we departed from the Love Gym for away games. Hammy was a fixture during mysports practices in the fall for field hockey and in the spring for softball all four of my years at Exeter. After afield hockey practice my senior year, I sat with Hammy, as I had a question for him.During my time at Exeter, I never mentioned to anyone that my great-grandfather, Bertie Whitley Hors-

ford Davis, had also attended Exeter, graduating in 1913. While there are many legacy families at Exeter, myfamilial history at the Academy differs in that my great-grandfather was one of a handful of black Exoniansduring those years. Despite his age difference with Hammy, my great-grandfather had lived in Boston for manyyears, and I always wondered if they had known each other.Bertie W.H. Davis was born in 1896 on the beautiful island of Antigua in what was then the British West

Indies. He had the opportunity to attend a prestigious prep school on the island, and his demonstration of aca-demic promise led to a scholarship that brought him to Phillips Exeter Academy. He began his lower middleryear in 1910 and flourished in the nurturing academic environment of the Academy. After graduation, he wenton to receive his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1917; I also completed a master’s degree fromthe Harvard School of Public Health in 2009.During his time at Harvard, my great-grandfather would launder, press and mend the clothes of his fellow

students for money. He was a talented tailor, and after completing school he ran a tailoring business in HarvardSquare for a while before pursuing other business ventures. My grandfather, Bertie W.H. Davis Jr., was born andraised in Boston. He did not attend PEA; my great-grandfather was very socially active and felt it was importantfor his children to have a role in the move toward integration of Boston public schools. Through all of my great-grandfather’s actions, his desire that all children—regardless of race, gender or class—have access to educationwas always apparent. That afternoon while sitting with Hammy, I asked him if he had known my great-grandfather, and he had.

While working with the Admissions Office on initiatives to increase diversity at Exeter, Hammy had sought mygreat-grandfather’s help in identifying promising students of color from Boston. He discussed my great-grandfa-ther’s commitment to education and his desire to see the Academy become coed. Hammy also mentioned thathe had a Westcott vest that my great-grandfather had made for him as a gift and token of their friendship.My journey to Exeter began long before my birth. My mother would receive letters as a young girl from

her grandfather talking about Exeter and how much he hoped she would be able to experience it one day.Unfortunately, when my mother was in high school in the ’60s, the school

FRED

CA

RLSO

N

(continued on page 106)

* Bertie W.H. Davis [class of 1913] senior PEAN quotation.

Ama Boah ’98 and her

brother, Kofi Boah ’96

106 S UM MER 2013 Columns were submitted on April 1 (nonreunion classes) and June 1 (reunion classes).

did not yet admit women. I grew up in Saudi Arabia due

to my father’s job. At the timethere were no options for highschool in the kingdom, so itbecame clear that my brother andI would attend boarding school.Despite numerous options, weboth chose to go to Exeter.

Dur ing the fall Exeter/Andover weekend of my senioryear, my brother, Kofi ’96, cameto visit and watch my last fieldhockey game. As usual, Hammywas seated in the bleachers,cheering our team on. At theend of the game, I walked overand introduced him to my broth-er. They shook hands and wechatted about the day, and Ham-my said that he had somethingfor us. He reached beside him topick up a small brown package,and handed it to me. “This,” hesaid, “is the Westcott that BertieDavis made for me, and I wantyou and your family to have it.”

I unwrapped the green-and-black plaid vest, feeling thematerial and admiring the work-manship. My brother and I bothembraced Hammy in tears andsaid thank you. In that moment,Hammy helped me to realizethe impact of my great-grand-father’s time at the Academy—that his two great-grandchildren,African-American, one male,one female, had the opportuni-ty to attend a school that hadgiven him such pleasure, happi-ness and knowledge.

I have waited 15 years to tellthe story of my great-grandfa-ther and to formally thank Ham-my Bissell for his kindness andexemplification of non sibi. Thisyear marks the 100th anniversaryof my great-grandfather’s grad-uation from the Academy, and Ihave personally dedicated 2013to honor him. It is only fittingthat these words find a homein Finis Origine Pendet, whichtranslates as “the end dependsupon the beginning.”

Finis(continued from page 112)

Save the Date!OCTOBER 11-14, 2013

Family members of current students

are warmly invited to spend an autumn

weekend on campus and experience the

richness and variety of life at Exeter.

• Visit your student’s Harkness classes

• Attend Principal Hassan’s assembly

• Take in sports team practices and music ensemble rehearsals

• Hear from the College Counseling Office

• Tour the campus

• Get to know other Exeter familiesfrom around the world

Watch your email for more information.

EXETER FAMILYWEEKEND 2013

A program of events and travel information will beavailable closer to the date at www.exeter.edu/parents.

Phillips Exeter Academy20 Main StreetExeter, New Hampshire 03833-2460

Parents of Alumni:If this magazine is addressed to a son or daughter who no longer maintains apermanent address at your home, pleaseemail us ([email protected]) with hisor her new address. Thank you!

Welcome to the family.

1945

2013

No matter when you graduated, you are a lifetime member of Exeter’s alumni community.

Documents

The Exeter Bulletin, summer 2013