Alumni Deliver Assembly to Honor Perry ‘85
Edmund “Eddie” Perry graduated from Exeter as a proud, Stanford-bound, four-year student in 1985. He was full of passion and excitement for the bright years that lay ahead. “Work to adjust yourself in a changing world, as will I,” he wrote in his yearbook page. But 17 year-old Perry lost all those years ahead of him and instead, he was brutally stripped of the right to live when a white police officer shot him in Upper West Manhattan on June 12, just two weeks after his Exeter graduation.
Alumni and members of Perry’s family crowded the Assembly Hall last Friday as five former Exonians sought to honor Perry’s memory and affirm his enduring legacy. Jonah Perry, Eddie’s older brother, joined them on stage, as did History Instructor Russell Weatherspoon, who delivered the opening remarks. “You have this moment in time when you are students here, creating memories that will become more and more precious to you. Listen, then, as people who are very much like you talk about one of their classmates whom they loved and the powerful impact he had and continues to have to this day,” Weatherspoon addressed the student body.
Although during the assembly the atmosphere was inevitably somber at times and more than a few tears were shed, many of the speakers chose to share joyful memories and on several occasions prompted laughter with particularly humorous anecdotes. Amanda Thomas ‘87 recalled how Perry had been her first high school love, though a close friendship outlasted their short-lived romance by many months. She spoke of the times in which they sat together in his first-floor room of McConnell Hall, listening to the lyrics of “No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley.” “‘Good friends we have, good friends we have lost along the way.’ We would rewind the tape and sing that line over and over because it meant something then. It meant uprooting yourself from your friends to go and live in cold, cold New Hampshire. It meant making new friends there, only to have them decide not to come back, or maybe to get sent away. In the best case, it meant winter giving way to spring and everything going exactly as planned and heading off to that great future at Stanford,” Thomas said. “But ten days after graduation, it meant something even darker. It made that song impossible to listen to for years to come.”
“I think it’s extremely important for our community to care about Eddie Perry’s death not only because of how it affected us as an institution, but also because of how it touches each of us today.”
Michael Eberstadt ‘85 reflected on the injustice of Perry’s passing in light of the greater issue of police brutality against African Americans and the institutionalized racism that led to his death. “When Eddie was killed, I finally understood that while he and I were both from New York, our apartments not two miles from each other, our circumstances could not have been more different. I was born into every advantage that my money and race could afford. At Exeter, I did not have to contend with the myriad of daily stressors, small and large, that must have sapped the energy of so many of my classmates. At home, I did not have to worry about my personal safety from regular people or agents of the government,” he stated. “Eddie was not put on this earth for my personal edification, but nevertheless, I am eternally indebted to him.”
Russell Washington ‘89, the final speaker, explained that although he had not known Perry personally, he harbored immense gratitude for the indelible mark he left on the Academy and the many generations of Exonians that followed him. He recounted how the Office of Multicultural Affairs originated from the Advisor to Minority Students position that was established in 1986 in the wake of Perry’s passing. Washington also recalled that Martin Luther King Jr. Day was added to the Exeter curriculum by the second advisor to fill this position, and was therefore another part of Perry’s legacy, as was the Dean of Residential Life position. He recounted how he quoted Perry in his own yearbook page because he “could not think of words more appropriate for this community, in both the immediate and the ongoing.”
Washington concluded the assembly by reflecting on Perry’s lasting legacy at the Academy and his consequent pertinence to every member of the audience. “Consider with care and thoughtfulness those words and the history of Eddie that is, by your own presence here at Exeter, your own history and present,” he concluded.
Upper Jacob Hunter recognized Perry’s acknowledgement of his privilege as an Exonian as a part of Perry’s character which resonated deeply with him. “I think the legacy the speakers meant to reflect in their assembly was how Eddie Perry believed so much in helping others, especially students who often feel left behind. It holds as a testament to the duty we have to help others succeed,” he said.
Upper Mary Provencal-Fogarty appreciated how the assembly gave emotional depth to an issue like police violence, which can “feel very impersonal for a large section of the student body.” She said, “It truly felt like a celebration of a life that was tragically cut short instead of a faceless statistic the way issues like these are often presented.” Provencal-Fogarty added, “We all felt like we knew him and couldn’t help but imagine close friends in his position. Bringing that issue close to home was powerful and an important reminder that issues like racism are pervasive.”
Religion Instructor Hannah Hofheinz shared similar sentiments and particularly expressed her gratitude for Thomas’ narrative. “I felt that her speech was so true to human experience which made it real,” she said. Hofheinz also appreciated the wide range of voices that were represented by the speakers, adding, “They offered many perspectives into his life and the experience of knowing him. Russell Washington gave the history of many offices here which presented a nice historical and personal relationship to Exeter’s administrative structure.”
Almost fifty students and faculty gathered in the Latin Study for the lunch meeting later that day, serving as a space for students to engage in dialogue with former Exonians about their Exeter experiences. Although conversations focused more broadly on Academy life, several alumni also made references to Perry and addressed the challenges of coming from a minority or marginalized background. “I was really happy to hear from some alumni who came from similar backgrounds as myself in terms of socioeconomic status,” lower Skye Newhall commented. “I think it’s extremely important for our community to care about Eddie Perry’s death not only because of how it affected us as an institution, but also because of how it touches each of us today.”