Exeter ESA Survey Results Released
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First Class Mail U.S. Postage Paid Mailed from 03833 Permit Number 78 “Te Oldest Continuously Running Preparatory School Newspaper in America” Vol. CXLI, Number 5 Tursday, February 7, 2019 Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter ESA Survey Results Released Editors' Note: In this issue of The Exonian, we reference several statistics from a survey Survey shows developed by four schools in the Eight Schools Association (ESA) and administered by the 141st Exonian Board. For infographics, refer Exonians Self to page 12. To view the full results of the sur- Censor Views vey, visit http://theexonian.com/esa/. By ANNE BRANDES, SARAH HUANG * Asterisks denote name change to preserve and TINA HUANG anonytmiy. Staf Writers Exeter is widely considered to be a liberal campus—a perception that stems perhaps from the frequent jokes about President Donald Students Discuss Trump delivered at assembly or the prominence of progressive clubs such as Feminist Club, "Hook-Up Culture" Woke or ALES. Results from the ESA survey suggest however, that, while a greater number of Exonians do identify as liberal rather than in Community conservative, the PEA community may not By DANIEL CHEN, ERIN CHOI be as wholly liberal as is commonly perceived. and JEANNIE EOM According to the survey, Exeter is more Staf Writers liberal than Phillips Andover, Deerfeld Acad- emy and Northfeld Mount Hermon’s combined Seventy-five percent of Exonians believe average. Of the 730 Exonians who responded to there is a hook-up culture at Exeter, while only 34 the survey, 44 percent identifed as liberal, while percent of Exonians are sexually active, according 13 percent identifed as conservative. Te ESA to the ESA survey results. comparatively had a 34 to 18 percent liberal-to- Tere is no common consensus on what a conservative ratio. “hook-up” entails, and for diferent Exonians, the For liberal Exonians such as prep Janessa term can mean a variety of things. Upper Samuel Vargas, the prevalence of liberal voices on cam- Chang defned a hook-up as “a one-time engage- pus is afrming. “I feel like my views usually ment that doesn’t have any romantic attachment,” resonate with the majority of what’s on campus, while senior Jenny Yang said that “anything be- which is liberal or more democratic views… A tween making out and sex would be a hook-up.” lot of the faculty share the same values, which Senior Selin Ferhangil believes the ambigu- makes it nice,” Vargas said. ity, which gives students the freedom to defne a However, Vargas and many other Exo- hook-up in any way they choose, to be a distinct Senior Dhruva Nistane discusses his political views at the Harkness table. Helena Chen/Te Exonian feature of the culture itself. POLITICS, 12 Senior Bella Alvarez suggested that many Exonians view hook-ups as a less time-consuming, more accessible alternative to dating—a way to be romantically involved without having to commit. Campus Divided on Discipline Committee Bias “We’re extremely busy; we have a lot of extracur- By EMILY KANG treat them as fairly as possible when rules are In reference to privilege as a fnancial riculars and homework,” she explained. Staf Writer broken.” However, the E Book does not explic- status, Kang afrmed that the DC is not given Chang considers hook-ups to be an inevitable itly outline how the DC ensures impartiality. information about a student’s socioeconomic reality of a boarding school where “a [group] of In response to an ESA survey question DC member and senior Matt Kang be- background. In reference to race, Kang guar- high schoolers with a lot of hormones are put about whether the discipline system favors lieves the perception of prejudice stems from anteed that this is not a factor that the DC into an isolated area where everyone has their those of privileged backgrounds, 50 percent students’ lack of information regarding the considers, though he admitted that there is own rooms.” of respondents—more upperclassmen than process. “Te committee takes on a lot of cases, no way to objectively assess colorblindedness. However, Chang believes that students view lowerclassmen and more males than females— many of which aren't publicized. Because of DC member and upper Tise Okeremi the hook-up culture to be more pervasive than it answered positively. this, focusing on a fraction of the cases can be confrmed Kang’s statements, adding that stu- truly is. “I would say that there's a small percent- Discipline Committee (DC) chair and misleading,” Kang said. “Unconscious biases dents’ extracurriculars are also not considered. age that participates in hook-up culture, and they Classics Instructor Matthew Hartnett had can't be ruled out, but the committee strives Factors the DC does consider, according do it ofen,” he said. “For my prep and lower year, hoped that the DC assembly earlier this year to create a fair and equitable system.” to Dean of Residential Life Carol Cahalane, I thought all the uppers and seniors were always would help dispel rumors of bias. Now he real- Kang also noted how the word “privilege,” include “citizenship on campus, prior atten- hooking up and having a bunch of sex.” izes this may not have been enough. as used in the survey, is quite open-ended. dance and disciplinary records [and] how [the Alvarez believes that this misconception is a According to the E Book, the DC’s pri- “Privilege is a huge concept with a lot of dif- student] demonstrated their understanding of major source of pressure for students to hook up. mary goals are “to educate students and to ferent facets,” he said. the situation and their willingness to accept “Some people might presume that if they aren't DC, 12 HOOK-UP, 2 Front Street Faculty Passes House Dorm New Health Gear Nixed By ERIN CHOI, EMILY KANG CurriculumBy ERIN CHOI and MAEGAN PAUL and LUCY WEIL Staf Writers Staf Writers Pepper Pieroni/Te Exonian Starting in fall 2019, all frst-year Exonians will be required to take two terms of health Front Street House residents are no longer experience, thus far, has been one of confusion tity,” he said. class—one in the fall term and a second in permitted to wear this year’s dorm gear––a sweat- and ambiguity surrounding our name and the Since Lai was tasked with collecting online either the winter or spring. Returning students shirt with “bhaus,” an abbreviation of the dorm’s history behind its removal,” senior Chris Roper submissions from residents, however, the origin will choose to take one term of health in either former name “Browning House” printed across a said. of the portrait was never clearly identified. Lai winter or spring term. Te proposal passed with man’s face––on the Exeter campus. Following a letter from Louis N. Browning said, “I was actually only given that image. I wasn't a 92-56 majority vote during faculty meeting on Concerns also arose about the sweatshirts requesting his name be removed from the dorm, informed of who the person in the photo was.” Monday, Jan. 28, with 13 abstentions. being a potential attack on personhood against the Academy, in April 2016, decided to rename Lai’s design never went through Student Ac- Currently, preps, new lowers and seniors are Louis N. Browning ’50, who may be the man Browning House to Front Street House. In the let- tivities’ gear approval process. The 2018–2019 E the only students required to take health. While depicted on the gear. The administration con- ter, Browning expressed his wishes to cut off ties Book states, “Student Activities is responsible for the intent of the revised health class requirement tacted Front Street dorm head Simon Spanier on with the Academy due to lacking representation the ordering of class, club and dorm gear." is to provide students with more support and Tuesday, Feb. 5, expressing concerns about how of students from the Appalachian and Rocky- Principal William Rawson voiced concerns improve overall student well-being at Exeter, the design did not go through the official Student Mountain area and Exeter’s acceptance of “same- about Front Street bypassing this rule. “My un- many students questioned the necessity of this Activities dorm gear ordering process. gender marriage and homosexual coupling.” derstanding is that we have a process for approv- change. Lowers in Webster Hall even created Lower JaQ Lai produced the dorm gear This sudden erasure of dorm identity is ing dorm gear that was not followed in this case,” a public petition to revoke the decision with after receiving input from the entire dorm. “We something Front Street House residents still he said. “When consulted by the deans, I posed the goal of collecting 500 signatures. Notably, held an open forum in which anyone could sub- struggle to cope with. “In those moments when the following question: if the gear would not have many of the 300 signatures they currently have mit ideas, and this dialogue between everyone in people joke about the Front Street change… we been approved through the normal process be- are anonymous or from individuals outside the the dorm was what ultimately formed the final have to ask ourselves, ‘How do we acknowledge cause of its potentially offensive nature, should it current Exeter community who claim to empa- design,” Lai said. “To my knowledge, the design this history without supporting the views of those be permitted now?” thize with student concerns. Te legitimacy of had the full support of the dorm. I wouldn't feel who we disagree with?’,” remarked Roper. Rawson added, “I offered to pay for replace- these signatures is admittedly uncertain, as there comfortable creating gear to be worn by mem- Lai tried to be mindful of these sentiments ment shirts if the decision was made that the gear is no way to ensure that every account belongs bers of the dorm if the dorm community was not in his use of “bhaus” in the design.