Assembly Hall Alterations to Be Considered

The faces of past headmasters and notable alumni–predominantly white males–cover the walls of Exeter’s Assembly Hall. But that could soon change. At opening assembly, Principal MacFarlane alluded to her intentions to modify this gathering space to better represent the current Exeter community. “One symbol of the work of building our future together is to change this place,” she said.

“We will be showing that there are many different faces to Exonian greatness.”

In her speech, MacFarlane said that the hall’s walls do not reflect the diverse community that Exeter embodies today, and over the course of the 2017-2018 school year, she will be working to facilitate discussions about how to revitalize the Assembly Hall in a thoughtful and purposeful way. These conversations will occur alongside a variety of steps taken by the school to build cultural competence as a community.MacFarlane’s comments come as the nation reconciles with issues of race and how best to represent its past. Communities across the nation have been pondering the removal of Confederate statues and how to strike the delicate balance of honoring figures from the past while also recognizing what they stood for. Some educational institutions, including the University of Texas at Austin, have taken action by removing statues of figures such as Confederate General Robert E. Lee, while others have vehemently claimed them as part of their history. Perhaps the most memorable manifestation of these tensions is the fatal protest that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia this past summer.During a break in the opening of school meetings, a faculty member brought up that there had previously been talk of changing the portraits to more accurately reflect the current Exeter community. According to Science Instructor Francis Johnson, a group of teachers suggested to MacFarlane that she cover the portraits with mylar so that they reflected the students. Instead, MacFarlane proposed including students in the discussion of how to change the Assembly Hall decorations.Currently, the majority of the portraits on the Assembly Hall walls are of prominent white males from Exeter’s history, with only a few paintings of people of color or women. Chair of the History Department William Jordan said that this is likely because Exeter was an entirely male institution for much of its history. He said that due to this, the school is “going to give a disproportionate amount of attention to a much smaller group of people. So that gets to be an issue.”Jordan added that although he values honoring Exeter past, he would support making the hall more representative of the school today. He said about the Assembly Hall, “I can see the value, as I think Principal MacFarlane did, of the history of it. But I can also see the value of making it more reflective of our current population.”Head of the Academy Archives and Special Collections Peter Nelson said that the portraits were either presented as alumni gifts to the academy or commissioned by the school over a long period of time. “Of course, this is part of an academic tradition that goes back centuries — the idea of honoring those who came before us who are deemed important in the founding or sustaining of the institution,” he said. Nelson said he does not know how the decisions are made as to which portraits stay on the walls.In her speech, MacFarlane said, “I look around this place and I really honor my predecessors. I so deeply appreciate the Exeter that they’ve built,” However, she went on to point that “these walls bear little resemblance to the Exeter we live today.”MacFarlane stressed the importance of the Assembly Hall, as it is the space in which all of the members of the Exeter community meet twice a week, and where Exonians begin and end each year. She said, “The Assembly Hall is a place where the entire school comes together to celebrate successes, welcome visitors, learn together and enjoy each other’s company. It represents the heart of the Academy.”History Instructor Michael Golay supports a possible change to the Assembly Hall, partly because many of the portraits portray subjects current students and faculty cannot recognize. He said that when looking at the portraits surrounding him in the Assembly Hall, he can identify few more than Daniel Webster and Principal MacFarlane’s living predecessors. Thus, he supports removing some of the paintings from the walls, but hopes to see an intentional process in deciding on the changes. Golay said about the portraits, “We should probably know more about these people than we do, rather than just take their portraits down and replace them with something else.”He advocated for identifying which portrait subjects had particularly important effects on Exeter and using that as criteria to decide which paintings to remove. “I think we should do an inventory of who’s up there, and make decisions about who ought to stay to preserve the history and culture of the school,” Golay said.MacFarlane expressed similar hopes for the school to undergo a thoughtful process in deciding on how to update the Assembly Hall. “I would like us to be deliberate and thoughtful about creating a space that embodies Exeter’s values of inclusion and belonging, that celebrates the excellence that can only come when diverse perspectives and experiences come together–that is a way of living Harkness in our surroundings,” MacFarlane said.She added that the changes would take place over the course of the 2017-2018 school year, and that Exonians would have the opportunity to deliberate before the school would make changes. “In good Exeter fashion, I look forward to a process for thinking, talking and listening — and then acting,” she said.Math Instructor Joe Wolfson agreed that a committee should decide on the wall decorations, but added that keeping the portraits on the wall could show students how the Academy has increased diversity since it was founded. Wolfson witnessed a student look at the portraits and say, “Hey, all you old white guys, look who’s here now!!”Reverend Heidi Heath was pleased to hear that Exeter was exploring the option of changing the Assembly Hall walls. “As we seek ways to live more fully into diversity and inclusion, it is important that we understand the myriad ways white supremacy and systemic racism can manifest itself in both visible and hidden ways at PEA,” she said. “That is acutely true in the only space that is large enough to hold the entire community for public conversation. This is an important step to fully living into the community we seek to be.”Upper Bella Hillman hopes that all members of the Exeter community will be able to take part in the decision-making process. “I think it should be a mix of students and faculty that decide on what to do, because both groups go to the Assembly Hall all of the time, and the photos portray who we all look up to in the caste of Exeter.”Hillman added that she enjoys being able to see Exeter’s past concretely represented by portraits in the Assembly Hall. She said about the portrait subjects, “I think they were all important to the past of Exeter because they all influenced how we got to where we are today. I think that instead of taking them down, we can add more to show how our school has grown over the years.” Hillman hopes that by adding more portraits to the Assembly Hall, Exeter can demonstrate a more inclusive history. She said, “We will be showing that there are many different faces to Exonian greatness.”Lower Carsten Bressel also emphasized the importance of an open dialogue. “Those former alumni and principals are there because they’ve contributed in an important way to Exeter. Their lineage shows the continuity of this institution,” he said. “They are the bedrock of Exeter, and each portrait shows just how far we’ve come. We should only take them down after thorough discussions.”Nelson believes that the Assembly Hall portrait gallery is Exeter’s attempt to express its respect and gratitude to it predecessors. “PEA doesn’t just exist because of us here today,” he said. “We have a long line of forebears to thank: people like our founder, John Phillips; Edward Harkness, one of our major benefactors and key influencers of our curriculum even today.  Benjamin Abbot, the first principal, Kendra Stearns O’Donnell, a principal who accomplished a lot for Exeter and Dolores Kendrick, a gifted poet and masterful teacher who was also PEA’s first emerita faculty member.”Although Nelson thinks the portraits are on the walls to honor Exeter’s influencers, he added that the school should reconsider which paintings hang in the Assembly Hall. “PEA was a different place in 1800 vs. 1900 vs. 2017. We wouldn’t knowingly put an outdated periodic table on our chemistry classroom wall, or a map showing East Germany and the USSR on our history classroom wall, when that’s no longer what we know to be ‘true,’” he said. “In the same way, it’s healthy to periodically inspect the ethos behind the pictures we hang in the Assembly Hall.”MacFarlane spoke of her goal of creating a hall that represents both the whole community and the school’s aspirations of moving towards a more inclusive future. “It should reflect symbolically who we are today, and especially should reflect and include the students of today,” she said. “Everyone at our school should feel themselves to be a part of Exeter and its history, a part of Exeter and its future.”