Turnovers for Club Co-Heads, Dedication Examined
Co-headships and board positions in Exeter’s vast network of student organizations present meaningful leadership opportunities to students who have proven particularly apt or dedicated in a field. While most clubs at the Academy thrive under the management of passionate and committed students, other groups have struggled to hold their board members accountable. This issue raises the question of why Exonians seek extracurricular leadership in the first place and whether additional measures are necessary to ensure liability.
Some of the Academy’s most coveted leadership roles are that of popular academic clubs like the Daniel Webster Debate Society or Model United Nations (MUN). Upper Mark Blekherman, a co-head of both organizations, expressed that larger clubs tend to have less difficulty maintaining committed leadership. “I think the trend of irresponsible leadership is exclusive to smaller clubs that were perhaps started on a whim, meet rarely, or don’t participate in competitions. Those are the clubs where there’s a lack of accountability and students pursue roles for college applications,” he said.
Debate co-head Sagar Rao, agreed, acknowledging that large academic clubs tend to have a greater number of board members, making it easier to intervene and mitigate the consequences of one individual’s negligence should the occasion arise. “Sometimes, when a co-head starts to fall behind, we just pick up their work and remind them what their responsibilities are,” he said. “We all had college in the back of our minds, but none of us applied for a position purely because of it. This problem is manageable.”
While it is not right for students to pursue leadership positions solely for college and abandon their duties come spring term, senior and head peer tutor Dara Okeremi could understand why an exhausted senior might feel compelled to do so. Okeremi believes a possible remedy would be to distribute club leadership positions across multiple grades rather than the senior class alone. “The non-senior can keep the club grounded and hold everyone accountable. They’ll still be sufficiently motivated to commit to their role since they’re not graduating soon. That shouldn’t be encouragement for the senior to slack off, but if they do, it won’t be as problematic,” she said.
Other students and co-heads voiced similar concerns, yet discouraged an official school policy to be made. Senior Katie Lee, co-head of Pendulum and ESSO Tutoring for Children, believes a school rule pertaining to irresponsible club leadership is unnecessary. “It’s pretty common for seniors to just check out after they’ve assumed a role. An impeachment policy would be well-intentioned, but I don’t think it would be enforced. It would create a bunch of tension, a bunch of drama,” she said.
The Department of Student Activities is responsible for overseeing all of the Academy’s clubs to make sure they have active student leaders and advisers and are adequately accommodated in funding and space. Director Joanne Lembo nevertheless believes that it is important to entrust clubs with their own management and board turnovers. “For the most part, we have incredibly dedicated club heads who work very hard for their clubs to be successful,” she said.
Senior Tim Han, a co-head and board member of several major clubs, agreed, asserting that greater adult input and the establishment of new school policies on club governance were unnecessary. “It’s really important that our advisors are advisors and not people running the clubs,” he commented.
Blekherman, however, believes that faculty engagement is a crucial component of a club’s success, suggesting mandatory co-head meetings with faculty advisors or incentivizing teachers to take part in clubs on campus. “If students know that there’s an adult who’s interested in the success of their club, they’re going to be more willing to commit. If the school wants to have responsible co-heads and well-functioning clubs, it needs to invest in finding advisors who can put their time into these clubs and keep the co-heads in check” he said.
Debate advisor Betty Luther-Hillman raised a similar point, though she acknowledged that many Exeter faculty members have difficulty finding time in their busy schedules to commit to advising clubs. “While our students are amazing and can do great independent work, I do think that our students would be better served with greater adult involvement in some clubs, especially when adult expertise could provide students with guidance,” she said.
Director of the Exeter Student Service Organization (ESSO) Elizabeth Reyes explained that ESSO clubs generally received greater departmental oversight. She attributed this to the fact that ESSO co-heads serve a population greater than the Academy and its students. “ESSO is accountable to the outside community, which is why adult help is necessary. We want to make sure that our outside neighbors have good relationships with the students, whereas other clubs on campus are part of the ebb and flow of student activities,” she said.
While current co-heads are encouraged to offer input, the collective ESSO board is responsible for reviewing all applications and making the final decisions. This year, the selection process will begin earlier in the term so that decisions can be announced by early February. According to Reyes, the extended period between selections and the official spring turnover gives new co-heads ample time to shadow current co-heads, partake in a leadership training program offered by the board and more successfully adjust to their responsibilities.
ESSO co-president Emmett Shell believes that the board works hard and is typically successful in ensuring that leadership roles go to students with a genuine passion for social service. “I think it’s very rare to have someone apply solely for college with the intention of quitting afterwards,” he said. If a co-head becomes overwhelmed by other time commitments, Reyes explained that she typically meets with the co-head in question and replaces them with another student more fit or available for the role.