E^3 Orientation
By: Selim Kim and Clark Wu
The Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) is initiating a new pre-orientation program, Equitable Exeter Experience (E3), for “Black, Indigienous, and other students of color, low-income students and LGBTQ+ students'' according to E3’s description on ExeterConnect, this upcoming fall from September 5 to September 7. Student mentors will be selected in the next few weeks to help facilitate the program.
The program’s goal is to “provide students of color, and low-income students an opportunity to build community, get connected with adults and resources, and practice strategies for navigating a predominantly white, wealthy, and privileged environment.”
“This program acknowledges that all of the students Phillips Exeter admits are academically capable and high achieving. The program also acknowledges that while Exeter continues to make progress in actualizing its vision to become a more diverse, equitable. and inclusive institution, the social and cultural transition to the Academy can be particularly and uniquely challenging for some students,” OMA wrote in a News and Announcements post on Exeter Connect.
According to OMA, survey data and focus groups with students communicated the need for increased support in social and cultural transitions.
Program participants will arrive on campus a few days before the start of fall term, and take part in a series of classes and workshops with faculty coaches and peer mentors.
Director of Equity and Inclusion Stephanie Bramlett worked to revive and revise an older version of the E3 program called “Enrich, Enhance, Excel”. The Enrich, Enhance, Excel program ran for five weeks alongside Exeter Summer and offered students a more gradual transition to Academy life.
“For years, my academic research examined the effects of institutional interventions on student connectedness at post-secondary schools,” Bramlett said. “These types of programs are well-documented, well-researched, and we know they work. Our end goal is for every student to have a keen sense of belonging at Exeter—the earlier we can provide opportunities for students to get that sense of belonging, the more successful students will be.”
“While Exeter has worked very hard over the last few years to become a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive school— we aren’t there yet,” Bramlett added. “E3 acknowledges that students with marginalized identities are coming into a school that may not be quite ready to support their identities.”
The E3 program will facilitate important discussions on how to adjust to the Exeter community. “We’ll talk about how students can navigate talking about identity around the Harkness table, finding community in spaces where they may be the only one with an identity that is salient to them, and finding joyful resilience in an environment that may look very different from where they grew up,” Bramlett said.
According to Bramlett, E3 will also include student and faculty mentors who will serve as guides to new students. Bramlett hopes that participants will be eager to return to the program as mentors.
OMA Administration Intern Danique Montique published an article in OMA’s winter term newsletter about her experience with a similar pre-orientation program at her alma mater. “I am super excited about this program and I’m more excited for students of color. I participated in a similar program named ‘Connect’ during my four years at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). When I first arrived on the campus as a first-year student, I was extremely overwhelmed. In the sea of people on campus, I could hardly find folks that looked like me,” Montique wrote. “Sadly, I left the orientation program in tears with the plan to not attend college. Shortly after that experience, I received an email informing me about the Connect Program. Connect’s main goal was to help students like me who didn’t believe we belonged on campus.”
Montique wrote about the impact that the program had on her transition into a new community. “The idea of being connected to all the resources available to me as a student and meeting professors and students that resembled me encouraged me to sign up,” Montique wrote. “That was the best decision I made because Connect was a huge part of my experience at my alma mater and a big help to my growth and transition as a first-generation student.”
Montique also expressed gratitude for the relationships formed during the Connect Program. “After completing the program as a first-year student, I was a peer mentor for the next generation of first-year students,” Montique wrote. “Being a mentor was an enriching experience. I loved seeing my mentees transition into student leaders. Throughout the experience, I made life-long friends, built a relationship with BIPOC professors and the Dean of Students knew me by name.”
Queer Kids of Color and Gender-Sexuality Alliance advisor Jerome Walker noted the importance of such programs. “I think that it is really good to have a program in place for people whose backgrounds, whose families, whose friends have not been at places like Exeter,” Walker said.
“Harkness is a specific type of teaching that requires having a smaller number of students in the classroom. That’s difficult for folks who come from lower income backgrounds, who usually are accustomed to lectured classes with more students in the classroom,” Walker added. “Giving people an opportunity to experience that before they’re off to the races is a great idea.”
Many students saw promise in this program in helping new students transition to Exeter. “When I was a new student, especially as a Black new student, I would have immensely benefited from programs and people that could help me adjust to the rigor and culture of Exeter, which I wasn’t used to,” senior Dillon Mims said.
Lower Lara Muyombwe felt similarly. “This program gives BIPOC students a chance to feel more comfortable at Exeter,” she said. “I know that I’ve never really been around many BIPOC students growing up, especially not many other black students. I would have appreciated this when I was brand new.”
Prep Finn Tronnes expressed worry that E3 will discourage inclusivity. “There was a lot of culture shock I didn’t expect [coming into Exeter]. As a low-income student, sometimes you feel left out,” Tronnes said. “People might be talking about parents working at these giant investment firms and you’re just there. It’s weird even when rich kids are hearing about financial aid.”
“I think if I came to this school with a group of predefined people who were in similar shoes, this idea of alienation would get to me much earlier. I don’t know which is better—to step into this school knowing that you were going to be different, or to learn as you go,” Tronnes added.
The Academy remains optimistic for the program’s success. Walker emphasized the importance of reflecting on the achievements of the program after its first session. “This obviously is designed with good intention, but sometimes we forget to go back and check ‘Okay, did it actually accomplish the thing that we want to accomplish?’” Walker said. “I think that that’ll be something to see after it runs for the first time. We should always look for improvements.”
Montique emphasized the importance of supporting new students of similar backgrounds in their transition into Exeter. “As we launch E-cubed this summer, I urge BIPOC students to apply to become peer mentors for the incoming preps. I encourage you all to reflect on your first time at PEA and what advice or tips you can share with the incoming class. We must support and show up for one another,” Montique wrote in her OMA newsletter article.
Walker is grateful that the Academy is working to extend more opportunities for students of various backgrounds to integrate themselves into the Exeter community more smoothly. “Any sort of historically marginalized identity is going to make navigating a place like Exeter more difficult,” Walker said. “But when you’re with people you’re familiar with you feel more comfortable. I certainly have hope that they will have those early, formative experiences. That’s the stuff that solidifies friendships. And that’ll make transitioning to Exeter that much smoother.”