First Class Mail U.S. Postage Paid Mailed from 03833 Permit Number 78 “Te Oldest Preparatory School Newspaper in America” Vol. CXL, Number 9 Tursday, March 29, 2018 Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire Mercer Survey Students Participate Shows Faculty in Nationwide Gun Discontented LegislationBy RACHEL WONMarches By JACOB FEIGENBERG and ANGELE YANG and SAM WEIL Staf Writers Staf Writers A teenage girl, hard to miss under her dark red Exeter baseball cap, stands proudly as she holds a card- Human resources consulting firm board sign which reads, “Where is the love?” All around the Mercer Company recently admin- her, students teachers, and parents hold up similar signs istered to faculty members a survey on in protest. “Make America Sane Again.” “Fire Trump, the state of affairs at the Academy. The not guns.” “Teachers want to pack books, not pistols.” study’s results showed widespread dis- Speaker afer speaker give empowered speeches, and the content, according to an Agenda Com- crowd erupts afer each one. Tere are those that clap mittee summary of the survey. This in fury and those that stand in determined silence. Yet survey is one part of a comprehensive at the end of the day, these people march in solidarity, research endeavor regarding employ- united in protest against gun violence. ment conditions for Exeter’s faculty. More than 800 “March for Our Lives” protests took According to Principal Lisa Mac- place nationwide this Saturday, following the Marjory Farlane, the Academy appointed Mer- Stoneman Douglas High School shooting fve weeks cer to address faculty concerns, to “un- ago. Marches in Portsmouth, Boston and Washington derstand which benefits mattered most D.C. attracted Exeter students and faculty alike to to faculty and staff ” and to find possible advocate for gun violence awareness and stricter gun inequities between faculty members. control laws. High school students from Marjory Stone- With this research, the Trustee Com- man Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida led the mittee on Work and Life plans to de- demonstration. Being one of the largest protests in velop a new strategy of compensation. American history with nearly two million protesters, Assistant Principal Karen Lassey the cause gained the support of numerous celebrities acknowledged that the current method and politicians and the attention of the National Rife of workload, compensation and ben- Association (NRA). efits (an A-level, B-level, C-level meth- Upper Jordan Davidson spurred PEA’s involvement od and a “step system”), has some faults in a local march by reaching out to a number of adults that the school needs to address. “I in the Exeter community to ask for help organizing think for a long time we’ve recognized transportation to the march. Afer discussing timing that there are flaws in both of those and location possibilities, the group ended up deciding models, so we contracted with Mercer Upper Grace Carroll holds a sign at the Portsmouth Reina Matsumoto/Te Exonian to provide transportation to Portsmouth. SURVEY, 2 March for Our Lives. Exonians who attended the marches were intent on creating change on the topic of gun violence. “I wanted to come to the March because I think that enough is enough,” senior Molly Canfeld said. “We Microaggression Flowchartperson, Brant to shared Ease that this wasReporting not her frst experience live in a society with a government that is doing little By MAI HOANG, BONA HONG with a microaggression. “People call me halfes and other to nothing to protect its students and other people of and EMMANUEL TRAN degrading words, though I certainly did not expect that to all ages.” Canfeld hopes that this event will make state Staf Writers come from a teacher in a written comment. I was shocked,” legislatures and the federal government recognize just she said. Brant has reached out to multiple teachers and how much people want change, and encourage them Te Ofce of Multicultural Student Afairs (OMSA) is members of the administration about the incident; however, to pass better laws. currently working in conjunction with student groups on a she feels that “there are not enough paths that a student can Senior Nick Song travelled to Washington D.C. to reporting plan for students who witness or experience an take” if they experience a microaggression on campus. attend the March for Our Lives. Te issue of gun vio- attack on an individual’s personhood. To prevent such instances and those that were men- lence has been prevalent in Song’s life ever since hearing Lower Penny Brant’s teacher allegedly made racially- tioned in the Afro-Latinx Exonian Society (ALES)’s video charged comments in written feedback. As a multiracial FLOWCHART, 3 MARCH, 2 Tech Glitch in PEA New Visitations Admissions System Policy Trialed; Delays Notifcations Students React By EMMANUEL TRAN By ISABELLA AHMAD and JACK ZHANG and ANGELE YANG Staf Writers Staf Writers In the early morning of Saturday, Mar. 10, Exeter’s On Saturday, Mar. 10, Academy Admissions Office sent its decisions to this year’s pool dorms Wheelwright Hall and Merrill of prospective students. However, due to a software Hall implemented a pilot visitations malfunction, nearly 300 applicants did not receive their policy that will run for the next two results from the office. weeks. The procedure was created Dean of Enrollment and External Affairs William in response to a campus-wide push Jelani Cobb visits PEA to deliver assembly. Read more on page 3. Reina Matsumoto/Te Exonian Leahy explained that numerous waitlisted applicants for a less hetero-normative policy. had not received their decision emails due to a glitch in The pilot replaces the old visi- In addition, Exonians can obtain senior in Merrill, believes that the the email delivery system. While the Academy used the tation rules by establishing gender- visitations from one p.m. to five new policy did not promote inclusiv- same framework as it had in prior years, the Admissions neutral visitations. During visitation p.m. on Wednesdays, Saturdays and ity to any significant degree. “Com- Office tweaked the system so waitlisted decisions would hours, all Exonians outside of the Sundays. If someone fails to obtain pared to the old policy, it seems that be sent to guardians as well as the individual applicants. pilot dorms, regardless of gender, permission from a faculty member the only substantial change besides Unfortunately, if either the applicant or their guardians’ will be required to obtain permission before entering another’s room, they changes in visitation hours is that emails were invalid or missing, the system did not send from the faculty member on duty will receive the same disciplinary now students, regardless of gender, any results to the entire family. before entering a student’s room. action as stipulated under the cur- are subjected to the same uncom- According to Leahy, the admissions officers realized The Student Council Executive rent policy. fortable procedure,” she said. “Mak- the mishap after parents contacted the Admissions Of- Board, Student Council advisers Some praised the pilot as an ing it harder and harder for students fice. “We discovered, because we got feedback, starting and the Dean’s Office collaborated effective advancement towards to explore intimacy with each other Saturday afternoon and that Sunday, that about three on drafting the policy. According inclusivity that also allowed more will only force them to do so in less hundred people never got their email,” he said. He ex- to senior, Merrill Hall proctor and hours for visitations. “There is this safe ways. I’m not saying we should plained that the Admissions Office was never alerted by Student Council co-president Menat romantic connotation behind get- just let kids do what they want, but the system that anything wrong had transpired or that Bahnasy, the ultimate goal of the new ting visitations, but the new pilot the innate lack of trust displayed by emails had never been sent out. policy was to be more inclusive of takes away any assumptions both the administration doesn’t exactly Leahy noted the importance of sending clear and all members of the community. “An- students and faculty can make about encourage mature and trustworthy timely decisions to all applicants. “If any one of the three other goal is the de-stigmatization sexuality,” lower and Merrill resi- behavior either.” or four emails in the household weren’t there, then the of visitations, hopefully making it dent Fiona Madrid said. “By mak- To address this issue, Brough email didn’t get sent. By Monday, we had lots of emails more normal for students to interact ing everyone ask for visitations, it proposed having a digital check-in and voicemails from people,” he said. “We were devas- with each other, form relationships takes away the potential pressure of sheet accessible to faculty members tated by that, because I think that how you say ‘no’ is and avoid the current pressures of someone to come out as LGBTQ+ if rather than having a system in which actually more important than how you say ‘yes.’” requesting visitations,” Bahnasy said. they wanted to get V’s with someone students ask for visitations in person Leahy noted that the Academy uses different systems Visitation hours are from seven of the same gender.” with a faculty member. for accepted and waitlisted applicants, and that the sys- p.m. to eight p.m. on Sundays Although some agreed that In addition, according to senior tem Exeter has historically used for waitlisted and denied through Thursdays, seven p.m. until the pilot creates a more inclusive Clara Lee, a proctor in Wheelwright, students indicated that the emails had all been sent. “For check-in on Fridays and eight p.m.