Long-Awaited Principal’s Day Cheers Up PEA

Eighty red Adirondack chairs appeared this Sunday around campus: on the quad, in front of Elm Street Dining Hall, next to Bancroft, in front of Wetherell Dining Hall. A post on Exeter’s Facebook page urged students to head to Elm Street, where Principal Lisa MacFarlane stood early that morning wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with an image of one of the chairs and the words “Tomorrow is Principal’s Day” to announce the surprise day off.

Coming later in the year than usual, the announcement brought an exciting buzz to campus as students took pictures with MacFarlane and posted them on social media to spread the news. Principal’s Day started under Exeter’s ninth principal, William G. Saltonstall ’24, who headed the school from 1946 to 1963. Since then, Exeter’s principal each year has cancelled classes one day as a surpise. Although Principal’s Day traditionally falls on a Thursday, MacFarlane believed that more students would appreciate an extended weekend, especially after a day of Saturday classes. She reasoned that since Principal’s Day is “supposed to be a surprise. ... If everyone thinks it’s going to be a Thursday, that’s a good reason not to do it then!”

In regards to the bright red Adirondack chairs, MacFarlane envisioned them to be moveable, usable campus art installations—“big, bright, changing patterns of color scattered across the green lawns.”

“Don’t think it will always be on a Monday now—every day’s a good day to have Principal’s Day!”

MacFarlane said that she wanted to mark her first Principal’s Day with something that would encourage people to relax outside with friends or alone with a book. “I hoped it made the campus feel warm and communal, more like a great outdoor living room. I knew Exonians would move the chairs around to make them fit all the places on campus [where they] wanted to be, with the people [they] wanted to hang out with,” she said.

On Monday, students played outside on the quad, took off-campus trips to places like Boston, enjoyed leisurely meals in town or caught up on homework and much needed sleep.

Upper Abigail Africa, who spent the day in Boston eating and shopping with her friends, appreciated the chance to have a day free of responsibility. She and her friends got up at 5:45 a.m. to catch a train and enjoyed cuisine in Boston, which ranged from Dim Sum and hot milk tea to Boba and gelato topped with a macaroon.

“One of the best things about Principal’s Day is that pretty much all appointments don’t run, so everyone is guaranteed to be free,” Africa said, explaining that she and the five girls who went to the city are rarely free at the same time. “It’s really the perfect opportunity to do something we’d never get to do on your average weekend.”

Africa said that although Principal’s Day is typically viewed as a day for relaxation, she did not regret getting up early and filling the day with activities. “We’re probably more exhausted than we would have been if we had stayed [on campus], but it was a great experience, and I’m glad I went to Boston,” she said.

For other students, holding Principal’s Day on a Monday allowed for a less stressful weekend, and more time to catch up on work and relax. “I caught up on some much needed sleep,” prep Bella Alvarez said, “and pushed back a lab report that I hadn’t done over the weekend!”

Prep Sam Michaels spent Principal’s Day in Epping with his fellow Cilley preps. Dorm faculty member and science instructor Joseph Leger drove the group to Epping to watch “Captain America: Civil War.” The Academy then paid for their dinner at a Hibachi restaurant. Michaels was thankful for the opportunity to get off campus.

Conversely, some students felt that MacFarlane waited too long to hold Principal’s Day. By Monday, these students felt too burned out or overloaded to enjoy the day.

Monday was also overcast and some Exonians found the weather to be too dreary, expressing regret that Principal’s Day had not been held the Thursday prior, allowing for nicer weather.

“The weather was a little dismal,” Alvarez said. “[It was] also really windy. It honestly would’ve been better to have it on the Thursday that everyone expected.” Pelliccia agreed, explaining that she and her friends had planned to go swimming, but had been deterred by the temperature.

Lower Cedric Blaise shared Alvarez’s concerns about the weather. He spent the majority of his day indoors doing homework, playing halo, sleeping and watching the NBA playoffs. “I treated [Principal’s Day] like a Sunday. I wish it was on a warmer day,” he said. Lower Elly Lee also wished that Principal’s Day was on the previous Thursday because “it was sunny, and we could have gone swimming or just been outdoors.” However, Lee still enjoyed her day off working on homework at a coffee shop in Portsmouth.

MacFarlane said that she hoped that the weather would be warmer and sunnier by mid-May, especially after lots of rainfall earlier in the spring. In addition, she wanted students to keep in mind that she plans to make Principal’s Day a surprise every year.

“But don’t think it will always be on a Monday now—every day’s a good day to have Principal’s Day!”