Four Classes Reunite for Alumni Events

The 2013 alumni reunion season kicked off this past weekend with the arrival of the classes of 1983, 1988, 1993 and 1998.

Following the Academy’s tradition of hosting five-year reunions, the four classes were the first of many that will be invited back to campus this May to catch up with friends and faculty members, re-experience Harkness and relive their memories at the Academy.

Alumni reunions are organized by the Office of Institutional Advancement, who work with committees within the school as well as contractors and companies to plan out dining areas and children-specific services.

Many visiting alumni this weekend were excited to visit the campus they had left behind after receiving their diploma years ago.

CC Childree ’88 said that the experience of meeting with former classmates was a big reason she attend the reunion. "I don’t keep in touch with people from Exeter that often, so it’s been great reconnecting with people."

"Some people look exactly the same, and some people I would not recognize without their name tags," Kevin Liau ’93 said. "I had not gone to any reunion before this, and I decided that it would be a good time to come. I have a three-year-old son now, and I thought it would be great to bring him up here as well and have him meet with other kids."

In addition to observing the changes of the Academy and its alumni, many alumni voiced their opinions on recently adopted changes to the Academy’s policies.

The decision by the faculty earlier this year to make prep fall a pass/fail term, as well as the elimination of most Saturday classes, were among the most-discussed changes.

Liau noted the importance of maintaining the standards to which the Academy holds its students. "I think an essential part of the Exeter experience is going through the difficulties of having classes six days a week, getting grades prep fall and struggling through these and learning from them, but as long as the academic standards and the core principles of Exeter don’t go down, I don’t see any particular problem with the change," he said.

Alanna Brown ’05, who was present at the reunions as the events and sales coordinator for Chill Catering, agreed and suggested expanding the policy. "As far as the prep fall pass/fail goes, I think it’s great. I came as a new lower, so I think it should apply to all students’ first terms, with the exception of seniors."

Though the pass/fail policy garnered alumni support, the reduction of Saturday classes was met with more concern.

Kurt Ehrig ’88 said that the policy was "a horrible idea." "You have a thousand kids who are here at school without their parents, and my question is: what are they going to be doing if they are not in class?" Ehrig said. "Part of the reason why we had Saturday classes was to excel in academics, but it was also to give the kids something to do during the weekend."

Brown considered Saturday classes a tradition for students of the Academy and has followed the progression of the new policy. "I absolutely despise it," she said. "For us Exonians, it’s a rite of passage. There was a sense of pride in that. You have half-day Wednesdays, you have half-day Saturdays. It all goes together."

This coming weekend, the Classes of 1953, 1958, 1978 and 2003 will visit for their 60-, 55-, 30-, and 10-year reunions, respectively, to reunite with old classmates and revisit their favorite sites on campus.