Stolen Santa Inspires Student

This past Monday, the student body was shocked by a string of emails that brought to light some of the most serious problems that this school is dealing with. Thanks to the bold but brutally honest email sent by senior Aaron Reuben to every student in school, Exonians were finally able to air some dirty laundry and openly lay their problems out on the table. Reuben, a self-described do-gooder who spent the winter term in Ecuador working to help malnourished children, sent an email to students titled: HAVE YOU SEEN SANTA? The email addressed a serious issue that clearly was vital to every single student on campus—hence the reason it was sent to every single student."Honestly, I just thought after week we have just had, it was about time we opened our eyes to the importance of the small things that make us feel safe and at home. Wentworth Hall, perhaps the most sensitive dorm on campus, has recently lost its beloved Santa, and now that it’s gone, the sense of security that we took for granted is gone with it," Reuben said. Reuben, although he may not have intended to, stirred the hearts and minds of the academy community with his tragic story of loss. An outpouring of human emotion and sadness immediately followed, with students sharing stories of things lost recently: five dollars, iPod Touches, wallets, class schedules and even a pencil."I am proud of the student body and their sense of community and connection," said Principal Hassan, holding back tears. "What we saw from the email: students’ sympathy, empathy and compassion, and the way they went out of their way to help each other, really impressed me and reminded me of what a wonderful campus this is."Not everybody, however, was pleased with the email thread. Some thought that it shouldn’t require an event like a missing Santa figure to stir the compassion of the community. "It’s not right that students’ compassion and outreach should hinge upon a major, traumatizing event like the stealing of a Santa," said Professor Andrew McTammany. "We should be empathetic all the time, not only when it’s trendy."Other members of the community believed that students shouldn’t restrict their sense of community to the school. "Yes, the stealing of Wentworth’s Santa is a major problem, but think about all the other losses and hardships people are dealing with: I’m pretty sure somebody stole a car a few weeks ago from the Andover campus," said Dean Arthur Cosgrove. "We should have the compassion to care about people and their feelings all over North America, and even, yes I know it may be challenging, in Europe."No matter what the true effect of this will be, it has opened students’ eyes to loss in all different types of places.