Opening Up Through Indaba
It’s nine o’clock on a Friday night. The deep rings of a silver bell echo throughout campus, and students gather in front of the wooden doors of Phillips Church. Inside, dozens of prayer candles flicker behind the podium, and one by one the seats start to fill. When the sound of the bell ceases, upper Jad Seligman stands up to the podium and speaks. “Welcome to Indaba,” he tells his audience.
Seligman steps away from the podium and sits alongside the audience. Silence takes over, and when a student finally stands up to speak, the service begins.
A typical night of this atypical gathering, called Indaba, can include students sharing their experiences and concerns, an original song the songwriter is too shy to share in front of a larger audience and a sense of protection and trust that permeates from the occasional silences.
“[Indaba] is affiliated with the religion department, though it doesn’t subscribe to a specific religion,” Seligman said. “It’s basically an open mic, people are encouraged to spontaneously stand to and speak at the microphone, play music, read poems, talk about their joys and troubles.”
As Seligman said, students are free to decide what they want to share with the evening’s audience. Some attend the event to share an inspiring quote, some to just sit in silence and relax.
Lower Killian Dickson explained that even though he was unaware of the service, when he went for the first time accompanied by his friends, he was engrossed by the atmosphere of the evening, and began to attend every week.
“I spent a lot of time in the church on Friday night with other church groups and some of the kids in those groups also went to Indaba, so I tagged along one day. I loved it, so now I go every Friday night,” Dickson said. “I’m attracted to the environment of being able to talk about your life without judgement and to listen to other students talk about what they are passionate about.”
Seligman echoed Dickson’s sentiments and also emphasized that Indaba is a place for meditation. “It’s a place for introspection and trust. You have to be able to trust in other people to not judge what you say, and trust the people speaking to honestly let you into their minds,” he said.
Senior and another co-head of Indaba Kieran Minor said that Indaba allows students to reveal their true selves and share honestly whatever is in their minds.
“Indaba offers something completely unique on campus: to take off the facade we may put on either to get the right friends, to do well in the right classes, or to look the right way for the right college,” Minor said. “The walls come down, and you can be honest in the safe, quiet, anonymous sanctuary of Phillips Church. It offers us a kind of ‘health service,’ health to mind and soul, no other place on campus can.”
Lower Erica McCormick, who often attends the weekly congregation, agreed and said that Indaba provides the student body a haven for them to unite and emphatize for their life experiences.
“Indaba is a wonderful community of deeply caring people, a fantastic atmosphere for music and provides opportunities for you to reach out of your comfort zone safely. It also provides a place to connect with people around you by listening and speaking,” McCormick said. “By going to Indaba, students are able to see and hear for themselves that they are not alone in their struggles or joys, and are able to practice speaking about their own experiences and listening to others’ as well.”
McCormick continued and said that the most enjoyable and remarkable sessions offer a balanced variety of acts. She noted that music combined with students’ personal stories impress her the most.
“The most memorable Indaba sessions are the ones where there is an equal balance of words, silence and music. The times that come to mind as the most extraordinary tend to have amazing music and an atmosphere of total openness, where a multitude of people share both the big and the little things about their lives and the connections they have made.”
Although Indaba offers a myriad of opportunities and unforgettable experiences for students, Seligman noted that the size of the audience is small most times. He said that despite the fact that it’s not largely known on campus, it can be influential and beneficial for all students. He shared that the gathering has helped him throughout his time at Exeter. “It’s an excellent institution. It’s given me a lot of support and peace over the years,” he said.
Overall, Seligman said that Indaba is a great way to finish the stressful weeks in Exeter.
“It’s a very peaceful hour, it’s a way to get away from everything to feel the silence, candle light and the voices of your classmates,” he said. “It’s a very good way to end the week.”