Dean of the Week: Sherry Hernandez
By Jeannie Eom and Ashley Jiang
When Interim Dean of Multicultural Affairs Sherry Hernandez was younger, her identity as an immigrant meant that she had to mature much quicker than her peers. “As an immigrant, I had to navigate and straddle two different worlds: the world that was my home where my parents wanted me to strongly hold on to tradition and Filipino values, and also America, which was outside of my home,” she said.
Throughout this period in her life, she learned to figure out her values by herself and found that she had to lend herself the emotional support she needed on her own. “I navigated both a role as a student and as a caretaker for my brother, who I helped watch while my parents worked long hours,” she said. “There was a lot of responsibility that was given to me at a young age.”
Hernandez’s childhood experiences reflect her current passions. “Much of how I approach my work stems from my hope to be that adult in students’ lives that I wish I had,” she said. “I do not underestimate the power of compassion, empathy, belonging, and care. I believe in those things, and the work that I do has an abundance of those attributes.”
The position of the Dean of Multicultural affairs, though, is not without challenges. “In this work as Dean of Multicultural Affairs that grapple with activism and social justice, there will be continuous and ongoing barriers, and it will sometimes feel like I don’t see any change,” Hernandez explained. “There is progress and there is also what feels like a step backward. The work entails the ability to acknowledge the growth and the intention of progress in tandem with what feels like a regression at the same time, and it’s a hard thing.” But at the end of the day, Hernandez sees positive progress and change spreading at the Academy, which is what continues to propel her work.
Before joining the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Hernandez previously worked in the College Counselling Office and on the college admissions side reviewing applications. Though she found college admissions to be gratifying, Hernandez found that her experiences were largely transactional. “It was valuable work, but I knew that I wanted to be in residence with the students to build longer relationships with them.
Inspired to turn to form those student connections, Hernandez first joined the Exeter community. “I have loved it ever since because of the relationships I was able to make through tuning in to and learning their stories,” she said.
International Student Coordinator Jennifer Smith recalled first meeting Hernandez. “It’s a funny story!” Smith recalled meeting Hernandez for the first time. “Our daughter was about 6 months old at the time and had just been baptized. The church assigned us another young family to be our ‘baptism mentors’ to guide us through the program. We met this family over dinner one night and the mom, Cathy, told me at dinner that her sister Sherry had just accepted a job at PEA in the College Counseling Office.” Reaching out to welcome Hernandez to campus led to a plan to get lunch, and Smith said “the rest is history.” “Dean Hernandez has a way of making people feel like you’ve known her a long time, and we had so much in common. It’s really hard not to like Dean Hernandez! She makes you feel listened to, valued and she is a lot of fun too!”
Smith recounts a memory from a Sunday of Labor Day Weekend in the lasts of the summer. “Dean Hernandez was involved in our initiatives in OMA on a voluntary basis from CCO,” Smith explained. “ I remember her volunteering to come and help welcome new international families to International Student Orientation (ISO). It was pouring rain and she showed up anyway, smiling with rain boots and an umbrella- willing to do anything, including taking students on golf carts in the weather to show them their dorms!”
Senior Sarah Kang had previously had Hernandez as a college counselor before the transition to OMA took place. “Every single time I’ve met with her or if I’ve ever needed to talk about very personal things, she makes me feel very comfortable and very validated in what I’m saying,” Kang said. “During our college counseling meetings, I had to reveal some pretty personal things, and [Hernandez] was really empathetic about it. It was really great to have a teacher that I can relate to and someone who could also understand where I was coming from and empathize with me.”
Upper Siona Jain felt similarly about Hernandez’s knack for understanding.“Upon meeting [Dean Hernandez], you can instantly tell she is kind, caring, and truly there for her students.” Hernandez, along with Asian Student Activities coordinator Wei-Ling Woo are both advisors to Asian Voices, a club Jain is involved in. “She is always there if you want to talk afterward and she gives all of us something to think about during every AV conversation,” Jain explained.
Jain also spoke from her experience in OMA as a proctor. “She is always looking for improvement of both OMA and Exeter and she consistently asks proctors how to create a better space for students,” she said. “I think she’s going to do a great job as dean because of her connection to the students.”
OMA proctor and lower Kodi Lopez recalls Hernandez’s enthusiasm and understanding of Latinx culture. “[Dean Hernandez] stuck out as a positive, vibrant faculty member who was seeking to make the best event possible that celebrated the book LatiNext, Mr. Perdomo, and Latinx culture,” Lopez explained. “Dean Hernandez was kind and welcoming and was respectful and understanding of Latinx culture. She taught me the works of how to plan out programs and encouraged and cultivated my ideas for growth.”
“Dean Hernandez is an absolute gem. She is so warm and kind, always willing to listen to the stories and voices of students,” OMA proctor and senior Iliana Rios said. “I am so grateful that we have her. She cares so much about everyone and will never fail to put a smile on your face.”
When asked what the “ideal Exeter” would be, Hernandez describes an environment of diversity. “The ideal Exeter to me would be a more diverse adult community, not just faculty, but also staff members,” she explained. “Students should not feel like they are constantly having to navigate structures that were not built for them. Hernandez wishes for an Exeter where all students feel like they are supported and reflected in all aspects, “whether it be the space that they see pictures of themselves, role models from the Academy that look like them, a curriculum that tells the stories of their ancestors.” Her hope is to make everyone feel that they are valued and that their stories are being heard.
Hernandez’s core value that directs her work each day is the hope that she can be an adult on campus who can lend support in the critical role of finding oneself throughout the high school journey. “Being present for the students and honoring them, affirming them with all their identities, celebrating them, sitting in the discomfort sometimes, helping manage a lot of the feelings that come with the Exeter experience, and just being present with them while they navigate the adolescence to early adulthood journey, is so fulfilling and rewarding for me.”