PEA Community Praises MacFarlane’s First Year
During Principal Lisa MacFarlane’s first year on campus, her leadership has been appreciated by faculty, trustees and students alike as she has displayed commitment and dedication to the betterment of the school. Notably, MacFarlane handled the sexual misconduct cases that occurred this year, and led a series of strategic planning meetings that will prove crucial to the future of the Academy.
MacFarlane came to Exeter this year with a long tenure in higher education and brought a fresh perspective on the opportunities and challenges the school faces. English instructor Todd Hearon expressed appreciation for MacFarlane’s work in her first year at the Academy. “Exeter needed someone with Principal MacFarlane’s vision and integrity, her grace and poise and liberal intelligence, her magnanimity and compassionate generosity,” he said.
Student Council (StuCo) secretary and upper Joel Lotzkar agreed. “Principal MacFarlane’s first year at Exeter has been good, and she has adapted well to the Exeter community,” he said. “I look forward to seeing positive changes at our institution in the future.”
MacFarlane’s first year as principal was not without obstacles. She tackled responding to the past cases of sexual misconduct that came to light at Exeter this year, ranging from the publicity surrounding former history instructor Rick Schubart’s misconduct while at the Academy to the recent firing of art instructor Steven Lewis, who admitted to sexual contact with a student several decades ago. MacFarlane was challenged to both take mannerly action and care for the victims as well as represent and communicate with the Exeter community as its leader.
“She has great vision for the future, while also being detail oriented about the present and caring about Exeter’s past and its traditions.”
Panetta explained that MacFarlane has dedicated a great deal of time speaking with trustees and alumni about how to respond to the misconduct cases and applauded MacFarlane’s commitment to appropriately handling the situation. “Our alumni community, including all the trustees, has been grieved by the disturbing past events that have recently come to light,” Panetta said. “Principal MacFarlane has provided strong, principled and compassionate leadership during this very challenging time.” She applauded MacFarlane’s conscientious steps towards improving the culture of the school and the safety of the students, as well as assuaging the worries of alumni. “We are all also profoundly concerned about the Exeter of today, and what the school is doing and can do to create the healthiest and safest possible environment for our current and future students,” she said. “Principal MacFarlane has also been tireless in thinking through those efforts with all constituencies, including students.”
Kim appreciated MacFarlane’s leadership throughout the cases as well. “Confronting issues of past sexual misconduct has been a challenge, and Principal MacFarlane has shown tremendous leadership and resolve in that area,” he said.
According to Kim, MacFarlane has worked hard to improve the sexual culture of the school since the beginning of the year, even before the recent sexual misconduct cases at the Academy itself surfaced, particularly in light of the incident at the St. Paul’s School. “She is clearly committed to ensuring that the well-being of students today and in the future is our top priority,” Kim said. “From the beginning of the year, she has led us to expanding and improving our programming and education in the area of sexual assault.”
Hearon too expressed gratitude at MacFarlane’s dedication and transparency even in the face of trials. “Exeter needed someone with her commitment to goodness-in-practice, not merely in the abstract,” he said, “and to full and open disclosure in matters that concern the wellbeing of all of us, Exonians past, present and future.”
Another one of MacFarlane’s primary focuses this year was ensuring that strategic planning meetings were conducive to progress. The Strategic Planning Committee met five times over the course of the year. According to President of Trustees Eunice Panetta, these meetings were fruitful and resulted in the foundation of strong ideas for the future. “The strategic planning process she is leading has generated a lot of great ideas and excitement on campus and with the trustees,” she said. “The plan that results will almost certainly bring significant changes and new directions.”
While the committee strived to think and plan on a larger scale, MacFarlane emphasized the importance of solidifying realistic and achievable goals that would affect the Exeter community in a concrete manner. To do this, she explained, the ideas had to realistically suit the usable resources of the Academy, while remaining ambitious.
After months of behind-the-scenes planning and bi-termly meetings, the Strategic Planning Committee focused in on three main topics: the overall health and wellness of the community, the reexamination of Exeter’s curriculum and the improvement of the financial aid system and Exeter’s general accessibility. These foci not only became the Strategic Planning Committee’s main concerns, but also MacFarlane’s as she worked to make positive and tangible change to the Exeter community during her first year as principal.
Assistant Principal Ronald Kim, formerly the dean of faculty, worked closely with Principal MacFarlane to offer her advice and support in her first year. He lauded the dedication to a strong future for Exeter which MacFarlane has demonstrated through her guiding of a “robust and thoughtful strategic planning process.”
As MacFarlane acclimated to Exeter, the trustees worked closely alongside her. They supplied her with the information and support she needed to familiarize herself with Exeter and to begin working with the school community to shape a vision for Exeter’s future. Panetta said that her work with MacFarlane has been productive and enjoyable. “It has been a privilege to work with Principal MacFarlane,” Panetta said. “Her leadership acumen inspires respect from those around her, and her clear commitment to the values we at Exeter all hold dear makes working together very meaningful.”
According to many faculty members, the commitment MacFarlane showed to dealing with the sexual misconduct incidents on campus and to running the strategic planning meetings effectively has manifested in all walks of her job. Panetta said that MacFarlane has worked hard to think about a better future for Exeter while still truly upholding the core values of the school. “I most appreciate Principal MacFarlane’s unwavering commitment to ensure that Exeter lives up to its core values of goodness and knowledge in new and meaningful ways in this new century,” she said. “From sustainability to social enterprise and beyond there is so much more we can all do together.” Kim echoed this sentiment, appreciating MacFarlane’s ability to innovate and improve the school while maintaining its most valued traditions. “There are so many things that I have appreciated about MacFarlane this year,” he said. “She has great vision for the future, while also being detail oriented about the present and caring about Exeter’s past and its traditions.”
Overall, MacFarlane’s first year at Exeter has been well received as she rose to handle difficult challenges and brought a fresh look and renewed commitment to the school. Expressing a widely-shared sentiment of the Exeter community, Kim commended MacFarlane’s conscientious and kind leadership during her first year at the Academy. “She is collaborative and an excellent listener and communicator,” Kim said. “She cares deeply about the students, staff and faculty, alumni and the school as a whole. Exeter is in great hands.”