Girls' Dorms Host Spring Tea

Formal teas hosted by dorms are often highlights of spring term for Exonians. While most girls’ dorms, including Bancroft, Wheelwright, Merrill and Amen, have already hosted their teas, others have scheduled their day for closer to the end of the year, and are looking forward to spending time outside with food, games and friends.

With many teas overlapping on the same day, Exonians prepare early and start asking their dates weeks in advance, and proctors and dorm members spend ample time planning the event.

Senior Emma Herold commented on Wheelwright’s Alice in Wonderland theme, including some faculty dressed up as characters from the story. "Mr. Unger was the Mad Hatter, Ms. Desmond the Red Queen and their daughter Nora was our own Alice," she said. "The tea was fun and relaxed. The chocolate fountain and pigs-in-a-blanket were a huge hit! We definitely enjoyed both preparing and attending the event. My personal favorite part was seeing how happy and relaxed everyone was."

Students look forward to teas as an opportunity to de-stress and spend time with their friends and dormmates.

"It’s a good way to bond as a dorm and celebrate living together for a year," upper Anna Brown said.

"My favorite part is the relaxing atmosphere of the tea, where everyone dresses up fancily, enjoys the fun and the spring sunshine and doesn’t worry about work and stress," upper Natalie Ser said.

Prep Kaitlyn Tonra agreed, reflecting on her similar experience at Merrill Tea. "I really liked how relaxed it was and how we got to just hang out and play games," she said. "It was nice to have an event that we had to get dressed up for, and it made the weekend a lot more fun and different from the usual."

Many dorms put their new proctors in charge of planning the teas, allowing dorm members to see them in action. Planners often prepared food, set up tables and games, made invitations, chose decorations and planned activities.

Upper Carlyn Dougherty, a new proctor in McConnell Hall, described the responsibilities. "We plan a menu for the tea, and everything else comes pretty organically," she said. "Mostly we just think about what we’ve done for past teas, and we get ideas from that."

Ser observed the additional benefits that come from attending a tea planned by the new proctors. "Not only is it a wonderful time to gather with your friends, but it’s also a great time to see the dedication of the dorm’s new proctors," she said.

For many new students, the dorm teas showed them a different side of Exeter and allowed them to interact with students of all ages. "I really enjoyed Wheelwright Tea, though it did amuse me slightly to see everyone super dressed up playing croquet on the lawn," prep Erica McCormick said. "My favorite part was the food, probably, and getting to chat with interesting people from all four grades."

Dougherty agreed that the dorm teas allow for dorm bonding and help students foster friendships with new people. "It gives the girls a chance to introduce their friends or guy friends," she said. "It’s also a good chance to get everyone in the dorm together."

Some students thought that the weather had a big impact on the overall experience of the tea. Lower Alex Shook found the chilly cold to be an unwelcome guest at Bancroft Tea, but, despite the weather, she said the tea was a success. "It was a nice gathering of people," she said. "Everyone just hung out with each other, and it was a nice excuse to dress up."

Lower Brooke Stephanian looks forward to the upcoming Langdell Tea. "[The tea] will bring a lot of different people together, since most of us are inviting a date," she said.

She also believes that the timing of her dorm tea is perfect. "The fact that it’s during spring makes it that much better," she said. "It’s such a happier time as opposed to the bitter winter."