Senior of the Year: Alice Ju in Exeter-land

“Let me tell you a story about a bagel.”

Alice Ju stood on the assembly stage in front of the student body, all of whom were intrigued and confused by the beginning of her speech as a Student Council presidential candidate; but over the next six minutes, her charming wit and eloquent rhetoric successfully swayed Exonians into voting her as the 2013-2014 Student Council president. 

Although many know Ju as the student who gives assembly announcements, there is quite a bit more to her than meets the eye. During her four years at Exeter, Ju became not only the secretary and president of StuCo, but also a Mock Trial and Republican Club co-head, a humor editor for The Exonian, an avid playwright and an overall hard-working student. Her ambition, however, never overshadowed her light-hearted demeanor. 

“Alice is smart, has a wry sense of humor and a strong sense of responsibility, and loves Exeter,” Thomas Ramsey, religion instructor and friend of Ju, said. “She is a dynamic student, independent-minded and hard-working. In class, she pushes everyone, including herself and her teachers, to do their best work. Alice is always challenging and full of surprises.” 

Ju first heard of Exeter when she was nearing high school and looking for a more challenging academic environment. Once she visited and had her interview, Exeter seemed like a natural fit for her. 

“I remember cracking jokes with my interviewer, Mr. Lynch, and listening to him describe how all the classes were taught in the Harkness style, with the teacher sitting around the table just like the students,” Ju said. “I felt at home at Exeter, and that was when I decided I wanted to come here.”

After luring her to the school, the Harkness table continues to play a role in Ju’s academic contributions and personality. “A wonderful combination of intellectual intensity, charm and sense of humor. She likes to work hard but keeps it fun. She also cares about what happens at the table.” English instructor Matt Miller said. “Class discussion and the ideas we dig into at the table matter and have meaning to her. She is also generous and inviting and wants to learn from her peers. I think she brings out everyone's A-game. She makes you better by making you demand more of yourself.”

The role Ju plays at the table is reflected through her leadership and relationships with others. “She is a smart, driven and a likeable person,” Alice’s sister and lower Rebecca Ju, said. “Alice is an incredible leader, and she's managed to guide the Exeter community so well. Her best quality is definitely her ambition. She knows what she wants, and she works incredibly hard to reach her goal, therefore she is an excellent student, well spoken at the table and is also an absolutely amazing writer.”

Ju has the ability to entwine her funny side with other more serious topics, a talent that has come in handy often. 

“What makes Alice special is that she is always able to toss some humor into the situation. She does come off as a very focused person, and therefore she is indeed successful, but it is cool to see her funny side too,” lower Audrey Deguerrera, a member of Student Council, said. 

Deguerrera continued, noting the importance of this skill. 

“In StuCo, Alice is able to balance being authoritative and being relatable at the time. She really has a good hold on the group, even with the hecklers,” she said. 

Upper Emily Lemmerman, who, as the vice-president of StuCo, has worked closely with Alice, added, “It is no accident that heckling, a fixture in previous councils, has been so rare this year: Alice knows when to pound the gavel and when to crack a joke back at the jokers. That balance that she strikes, by taking what she does, but not herself too seriously makes her great. I have taken a lot from her leadership style, as I think the school has: sometimes Exonians need to remember to not take themselves too seriously.”

Senior Nick du Pont, a former co-editor of The Exonian humor page and a close friend of Ju, appreciates her sense of humor combined with brilliance. “She has a wonderfully sharp sense of humor, which complimented my unfortunately dull one when we worked together as humor editors. She is brilliant, honest, unafraid of judgement and assertive.”

Combining her drive, wit and incredible leadership ability, Ju has become a role model for many. 

“I have always looked at her work ethic and I have been inspired to work just as hard,” Rebecca said. “She has also given me so much advice, both through actions and words, and has helped me become who I am today. She is an amazing person who I have always looked up to, and she's someone I am incredibly proud of.”

Lemmerman shared similar feelings. 

“I have always held Alice in high regard, especially for her outspoken role in Student Council and Republican Club and her ever clever quips. She helped me an incredible amount as I prepared to run for vice president, encouraging me and rewriting my punchlines,” she said. “I also look up to Alice in her breadth of interest and deep passion for intellectual growth.” 

Her influence on the Exeter campus does not end there. Ju co-captains a talented mock trial squad that placed 10th at the national competition last year. Member since her prep year, she enjoys formulating other teams’ strategies and preparing her testimonies. “The actual logistics of the trial itself is just a lot of fun. I mostly play a witness, for which I write a character beforehand. Then, it’s a lot of thinking of my feet and answering the other side’s questions, which I love.”

Walter Stahr, class of ‘75 and a volunteer student advisor, attributes Ju’s success to her intellectual curiosity. “Alice is intelligent, diligent without wanting to seem so, intense, provocative, curious. Very few people would, like she does, spend her breaks reading existential philosophy or Russian novels. And that wide-ranging, penetrating intellect is what makes her so great at mock trial.”

This exemplar reputation is trusted by many other Exonians as well. 

“Alice comes off as a smart, responsible person, and as a role model for younger students,” DeGuerrera said. “She has a strong presence, and as an outside observer, she has really molded herself into an ideal Exonian. She has shown everyone what is possible here at Exeter, and it seems as if Alice has gotten a lot out of her Exeter education, whether that be socially, academically, or through her extracurriculars.”

This respect students feel for Ju has been bred by her actions. She has worked hard to make changes for the student body, with a touch of her personality included. “I ran for lower rep because I really thought that as a rep, I should be doing what the students wanted me to do, and during that time, everyone told me that they just wanted free candy, essentially,” Ju said.

Ju continued on how students influence her decisions, especially in StuCo. “ I have a responsibility first and foremost to the students, and they want certain things: events, better dining hall food, etc.” Ju said. “Since I became secretary, I've concentrated on getting those things, even the smallest things. I don't believe that StuCo should shy away from pursuing anything if the students think that it is right just because it is difficult or impractical—maybe this is idealistic, but it is how I want to run council.”