Summer Fellowship Program Cancelled Due to Safety Concern

The Summer Fellowship program, which was launched in the 2011-2012 academic year, has been cancelled primarily due to safety and liability concerns.

Concerns arose last summer because there were no safeguards in place for the summer fellows. Because the research occurred off campus, often in remote or isolated places with no Academy supervision, there was not an apparent way to ensure that the research was being practiced safely and that the students participating were not at any risks. “Having unsupervised students in far-flung places in the world and exposing themselves and the school to dangers would raise serious liability questions, if troubles were to arise,” were two major risk management questions which Peter Vorkink, chair of the religion department raised.

“If something were to happen, it would fall into the lap of the school.”

Chair of  the science department Alison Hobbie echoed this concern, drawing attention to the seriousness with which PEA takes the safety of its students who are attending any program endorsed by the school. “The risk issues involved with this program were challenging, as each student works on their own,” Hobbie explained. “It was this concern that led to the decision to suspend the program until a specific plan could be set in place to ensure the safety of its students while they are doing this research.”

In addition to the fundamental safety concerns, fluctuating interest in the program has played a role in its cancellation. Hobbie also noted that there is currently little to no funding for the fellows. Thus, students who have financial constraints are not granted equal access to the opportunities. Until this issue of equity can be addressed, the program will face further difficulty starting up again.

Shinri Kamei ’12 originally proposed the program to Student Council (StuCo). “It was her personal brainchild, and she wanted, as part of StuCo’s overall programing, to show the diversity of Exonians’ backgrounds and interests through a summer fellowship program which would then lead to public presentations once back in school the following fall,” Vorkink explained.

Hobbie laid out the structure of the fellowships, which allowed for students to have the opportunity to perform research over the summer that was sanctioned by the support of the program. Each fellow, after being selected through an application process, would undertake a summer project of their own design and, through the program, each was given the chance to study, research or film an issue of personal interest to them; this often, though not always, occurred overseas.

After returning to campus in the fall, students who participated in the program would share with the student body, through an assembly or presentation, what they had learned during their unique experiences.

Both Hobbie and Vorkink advised the program and taught Kamei during the term when she first launched the program. Through this role, they have assisted the student coordinators each year and helped with the selection of the fellows. In addition, they have provided any other support needed by the fellows in order for the program to run smoothly. Senior Yena Cho, who serves as a student head of the program, stated that her role is to “read over applications written by potential fellows, contact fellows about certain due dates and check points and facilitate the presentation of their work to the greater Exeter community.”

During the years that the program has run, students have taken full advantage of the special opportunities it offers. “Over the half dozen years the fellowship program has run, there have been some wonderful projects undertaken, with thoughtful and skillful presentations about the students’ work,” Vorkink said, going on to list this year’s presentations as examples of the quality of work the fellows produced.

Upper Claire Dauge-Roth, who traveled to Rwanda this past summer with the mission of understanding the Rwandan genocide, emphasized the importance of her first-hand experience. “My dad brought back tons of pictures, but it wasn’t the same as going there,” she explained, going on to describe how she had witnessed the victims of the genocide living in close proximity with the perpetrators.“It’s hard to explain, but I don’t think I’d be able to really get a sense of Rwanda without actually going there. You can’t experience and understand the genocide any other way,” Dauge-Roth said.

Senior Trishna Mohite became aware of the program’s cancellation from the advisers, who agreed that the summer fellowship program presented significant safety concerns. “If something were to happen, because kids will sometimes go to [unsafe] places, it would fall into the lap of the school,” she said.

Mohite recognized that the school’s decision to put the program on hold made sense until a better way to go about ensuring the fellows’ safety was implemented. Lower Molly Canfield agreed that it was important for the school to worry about safety, but said that it was disappointing that the opportunity was lost. “I think that it’s too bad that the program was canceled. It seemed like an incredible opportunity,” Canfield said.

Vorkink noted that he wished the situation were otherwise and that we all lived in a safer world, “but the school as a whole cannot disregard the welfare of our students as our primary concern.”