Reverend Retires After Paid Leave

Friends and family of late English Instructor John Bascom Heath gathered for his memorial service beneath the stained-glass windows of Phillips Church as Reverend Robert Thompson delivered on Oct. 28 his final officiation in the space.

On Oct. 29, Interim Principal William Rawson ’71 shared a statement with Exeter alumni, faculty and staff announcing Thompson’s official retirement––PEA’s first official update on this matter since Thompson was placed on paid administrative leave in the summer of 2016, during which the Academy banned him from campus and forbade him to disclose details surrounding his status with the school.

In the email, Rawson acknowledged the sensitivity of these circumstances to all involved. “This situation has been painful to Rev. Thompson and his family and difficult for the school and the extended Exeter community,” he stated.

Rawson wrote in his email that he met with Thompson in July. His email stated that the Academy and Thompson mutually decided to part ways “amicably.”

He also recognized the Academy’s difficulties in fairly negotiating with Thompson. “The extension of the administrative leave into and through much of 2018 reflected both the challenges the Academy and Rev. Thompson faced in resolving their differences through mediation and their commitment to doing so,” he said. “Nevertheless, it is extremely regrettable that the administrative leave has lasted as long as it did.”

In response to The Exonian’s inquiry, Rawson explained why he had refrained from sharing this email with the student body. “I consulted regarding whether to send the letter to the entire student body, and the consensus was that doing so might cause confusion because the majority of students had had no connection with Rev. Thompson.”

According to a Facebook post from Robert Tench ’74, who has maintained a personal relationship with Thompson since their student years, the mediation that culminated in the Academy’s “amicable” agreement with Thompson regarding his retirement took place in early July after “a nine hour marathon negotiating session” on July 16.

Joyce Maynard ’71 expressed doubt about the “amicable” nature of the agreement, due to the stipulations behind his administrative leave and her knowledge of his love for the Academy. She also voiced disappointment with Rawson’s statement for failing to do justice to Thompson’s legacy. “Yesterday’s announcement to alumni announcing Bob Thompson’s retirement––the Academy’s choice, not his own––bore no mention of Reverend Thompson’s 30 years of service to the school, its students and its graduates. He and his family, who gave so much for three decades, deserved far better,” she said.

Thompson’s leave of absence has been a topic of interest, contention and uncertainty for the larger Exeter community. “What was always mystifying to us as alumni was why he was ever placed on administrative leave in the first place,” Frank McPhillips ’72 said.

Many alumni believe the Academy placed Thompson on leave after The Boston Globe published an article in July 2016 calling attention to Thompson’s involvement in a case of student-on-student sexual misconduct.

Thompson could not be reached for comment.

The article stated that Thompson had advised the alleged perpetrator, Chudi Ikpeazu ’16, to bake monkey bread as an “act of penance” for the remainder of the year. “The bread diplomacy backfired, laying bare a string of choices that made [the student] and her family question the commitment at one of America’s premier private schools to protecting students from abuse,” the article read.

The Boston Globe published a follow-up article two months later describing two separate incidents of sexual misconduct from 1993 and 1995 in which Thompson had purportedly played “a questionable role.”

Some were disconcerted by the published accounts and expressed disappointment and frustrations with his reported behavior. “Originally, I was kind of surprised because I was like, ‘There is no way Rev. would do something like that.’ And then, as more of the articles came out, I was disappointed…a little upset that that was how things had proceeded. Rev. had given a response that didn’t help the situation…That wasn’t the right way to go,” senior Numi Oyebode said.

Others stood by Thompson and denounced the media reports for tarnishing his reputation. “Bob Thompson—a man with the biggest, most powerful voice of anyone I’ve ever known—has been effectively silenced. Throughout this entire, excruciating and humiliating process, he was denied the basic opportunity to address the charges levelled against him by the Academy, or to offer rebuttal to a hugely damaging and grossly inaccurate front page story in The Boston Globe,” Maynard said.

Some faculty members and Exonians, past and present, highlighted Thompson’s widespread impact on the community. Bruce Bernstein ’72 noted the reshaping of Phillips Church under Thompson’s ministry. “Phillips Church was nothing like what he made it into. [Thompson] made it into something that was welcoming to everybody, including non-believers and non-Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and that was very important in terms of the diversity of the Academy,” Bernstein said.

Senior Ahlam Ibrahim recalled meeting Thompson during her prep year. “He just took care of everyone and asked if you were okay and gave good advice. He was also very honest with you,” she said. “But in addition to that, him being kind of a grandfather figure for black students, but also for all students, he was [the type of person to] give everyone a big bear hug.”

Many alumni in the class of ’72 were pleased to see Rawson address this issue that they perceived had long been shrouded in silence by the administration. Nelson Graves ’72 expressed his gratitude towards Rawson’s issuing of a statement. “Bobby Thompson, as an employee of the school, has been…left largely hanging out to dry while media outlets have published unfair allegations about [him], so I’m very glad that Principal Rawson has chosen to speak out to the community,” he said.

Bill Campbell ’72 appreciated that Rawson emailed faculty and alumni, but believed that it was “the minimum that he needed to do.” He said, “Granted, it was not easy to do that…When I read Bill Rawson’s statement, I understood that there were a lot of raw edges that he was being careful around.”

Campbell emphasized the Academy’s need to acknowledge those who have been impacted in order to move on from past incidents. “I think that great institutions don’t finish recovering from this sort of an episode until all of that pain can be acknowledged for everybody for whom this was hard,” he said.