Faculty of the Week: Brooks Moriarty
Instructor in English Brooks Moriarty smiles for the camera. Photo Courtesy of Exeter Communications
By SAM ALTMAN, ADELLE PITTS, and MEGHAN TATE ZEE
Brooks Moriarty has held many roles throughout his decades at the Academy—Instructor in English, former Dorm Head of Bancroft Hall, former Dean of Students, boys JV lacrosse Coach, Exeter parent, alumnus of the class of ‘87—and is deeply entrenched within the Exeter community. Many within the Bancroft dorm community rely on his humor, honest advice, and–most of all–intriguing life stories, but his impact on campus at large goes far beyond the walls of Bancroft Hall.
In the classroom, many students admire B. Moriarty’s passionate and engaging nature. Upper Caspar Bailey recalled, “He made English class more than just doing the readings, making annotations, and making points; he made it an interactive and a truly collaborative experience with classmates and something that you could really dive deep into and enjoy rather than checking boxes and just knocking off assignments. He ensured that the class was more interactive and breathed life into the content.”
Prep Ella Fang agreed. “He’s always willing to discuss and dive into the smaller stories within the bigger ones. The way he gives feedback and the way he gives advice, I think is probably some of the best I’ve gotten in terms of my writing.”
“He gave us a lot of opportunities to come and work with him outside of the classroom. Class was really relaxed and it was a very comfortable environment,” prep Artur Novaes Ferreira said.
“When I came in as a prep, he was my English teacher,” said upper Patrick Snyder, whose father was a member of B. Moriarty’s graduating class at Exeter. “He was very inclusive towards the prep class. He taught us well and integrated us into the academic life of Exeter, especially the English and writing programs, incorporating descriptive language and all that. He’s probably one of the best teachers that could have done that for the preps.”
Instructor in English and B. Moriarty’s wife Genny Moriarty explained, “He teaches the Moby Dick elective, and the Crime Fiction elective, which he loves, and he has been interested in the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and other American poets since college.”
B. Moriarty said of his own teaching experience, “I have so many favorite memories from teaching. Be it a novel, poem, play, or a short story, the students always find something fresh, something I hadn’t thought about before. Whether we’re talking about a prep English class and somebody notices something really important about the way the story is constructed, or in my Moby Dick class right now, where the students find some thorny passage and try to make sense of it and land on some incredible insight. I love those moments. And, I am so grateful to be in a place where those moments are happening regularly.”
“I think he has a really good balance of being approachable and caring,” G. Moriarty continued. “But he also has really high expectations for his students. Exeter has such talented and ambitious students, and when we were first considering a move to Exeter, he wanted to make sure it would still feel like they were high schoolers. That’s one of the things he loves about teaching here: you can have amazing conversations in the classroom, but it’s still about working with kids.”
Fang continued, “In prep year, we’re only doing narratives, so it feels like most teachers follow the same formula. I think Mr. Moriarty has really gotten me to focus on writing emotion into my pieces and describing imagery without just coming out and saying it, which I feel like I’ve never really done before. I think it has significantly helped my writing.”
Instructor in English Matthew Miller reflected on his 16 years working alongside B. Moriarty. “I can say without equivocation that Mr. Moriarty is one of the most caring and dedicated professionals I have ever worked with,” he said. “He sees every student as a whole person. He is selfless, almost to the detriment of his own well-being, for he will give everything of himself and dig deep and find even more to give. He is funny and wise and patient. His kindness and empathy for others seems limitless. He is a brilliant thinker of literature and yet is so humble. He just wants the students and his colleagues to be well, to have fun, and to learn from each other.”
In Bancroft Hall, B. Moriarty is a treasured part of the dorm community. Upper Aveen Burney commented that, “Mr. Moriarty is a bundle of joy. He is a bucket of fun. He’s very receptive and is very good at listening, processing it, and then talking about it with you. It feels like he’s actually present with you and truly cares about what you’re saying. He is some pure form of goodness that is hard to describe. I also like his humor, and deep down I know he has the best humor on campus.”
Upper Anya Rao reminisced, “When I think of Mr. Moriarty, I always think of our common room conversations when he talks about his times at Exeter, or of when he’s on Saturday night dorm duty and we just get to sit and hear about his life, which is actually really interesting.”
Dean of Students Head Katherine Hernandez, who also serves as Bancroft Hall’s current dorm head, has known B. Moriarty for nine years. “He’s incredibly supportive, thoughtful, and caring,” she said. “He’s always willing to help in the dorm, be it getting materials for beach day or really any activity.”
Hernandez continued, “As an alumnus, he knows what it was like for him as a student at that time. I think that experience allows him to have a great deal of sympathy and empathy for Exonians today; he can act as a soft place to land after having had a bad day, and as a result, he’s very much beloved and respected by the students.”
Burney also discussed other aspects of B. Moriarty’s interests she’s learned about, “He loves Emily Dickinson and even taught me a life lesson regarding her and circumference. It is fascinating to see how he does such a great job translating such intellectual concepts and interests from poetry and music and philosophy into simple and beautiful life lessons and snippets of advice for everyone.”
Burney added that “the guitar teacher who taught him when he was here, Mr. Sinclair, now teaches me guitar, and he now coaches alongside the lacrosse coach who coached him when he was here. He’s got all of these full-circle facts and connections that are so interesting to hear about—talk about circumference.”
“He’s such a friendly face,” said Rao, “and you can tell by the way he carries himself around the dorm how much he loves our community.”
B. Moriarty also serves as an assistant coach for the boys JV lacrosse team. Prep Antonio Serna commented, “The most admirable thing about Mr. Moriarty must be his patience. He has shown everyone, no matter their experience in lacrosse, the same amount of patience and kindness when teaching them new skills.”
Snyder echoed this sentiment: “I’ve known Mr. Moriarty for quite a while, even before I was a prep, via my dad who was in his graduating class. When I came to Exeter, he was both my English teacher and my JV lacrosse coach. He really brings the energy to the field, but he also organizes everyone well into their roles, and he’s great at communication in general. He knows when to take accountability for himself and when others need to.”
G. Moriarty reflected, “I was having a conference with one of my students recently who happens to be a lacrosse player, and he said how much all of Mr. Moriarty’s lacrosse players love and look up to him. That was gratifying to hear, because coaching is one of his favorite parts of the job.”
B. Moriarty spoke to his own coaching, saying, “Being involved in a learning experience outside of a classroom is something I don’t think I could do this job without. It is truly restorative to be outdoors, running around. Although the older I get, the less I run around, working with a coach who’s one of my favorite people, Coach Hudson, and the students who are of varying skill levels is so fulfilling. At the JV level, you have really skilled players and players who are newer to the game. It’s really fun to try to bring that together and create one, united team.”
Snyder continued, “I remember, when we had a game recently, and it was tied at half-time, he was bringing us together, making sure that we were one as a team. He didn’t want any “chirping”—nagging at someone for doing a bad job. He stepped in and was like, ‘Boys, we have to work together as a team, because this chirping isn’t going to get us anywhere other than animosity.’”
Serna added, “Mr. Moriarty really is a kind-natured coach. He teaches everyone and shows patience, never getting irritated at mistakes.”
“He works at a camp over the summers in Maine and has done that for years, at the camp that he went to as a kid,” G. Moriarty recalled. “When our kids wanted to go, he took a job as their waterfront director. So I think it is kind of built into his ethos—he simply loves to work with young people and mentor them, and I think that seeps into his teaching approach.”
“I don’t know that anyone cares as much about the students and their lives as he does,” Miller stated. “He’s about as good a human as I have ever met, the kind of person, the kind of father, husband, friend, and teacher you hope to be when you grow up, even if you are already an adult. This campus, this world, would be a much sadder place were he not in it.”
Burney concluded, “Mr. Moriarty said this about one of his teachers; it has stuck with me since prep year and I’ll say the exact thing about him: ‘Everybody has their own kind of mythology in their lives and important characters. And he is one of those people—someone who gives coherence and stability and joy to your life.’ That’s Mr. M to me.”
