Evening Prayer Moves to Sunday
The weekly student performance known as Evening Prayer (EP) will take place on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. instead of Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. from Jan. 13 onwards. Exonians voiced concerns over this decision and their lack of input on the matter.
Interim Principal William Rawson, Dean of Students Melissa Mischke and Reverend Heidi Heath informed the community of the change on Nov. 16 in an all-school email. According to the email, Rawson, Mischke and Heath made the decision to better accommodate check-in times and study hours—8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on school nights—which EP previously interrupted. “It is important to honor the intention of our check-in times for all students,” the email stated. “This transition maintains the integrity of what is special about EP, but does so in a way that better aligns with study hours.”
“As far as I can tell, there has been an overwhelmingly negative response to this change,” James said. “I think it worries the student body when these kinds of changes are made without clear explanation or clear logic and, more importantly, without any kind of dialogue between students and the administration.”
According to Heath, the EP officiant, rescheduling EP has been an ongoing discussion. “It’s my understanding that many people have been discussing a possible change in time to EP for a number of years,” Heath said. “That idea gained traction last summer among the administrative team and was brought forward to me and others this fall to explore the feasibility, process and timing of such a decision.”
In response to the change, seniors Tara Weil and Paul James emailed the administration to express how Tuesday evening EP has traditionally provided a break from Exonians’ busy schedules. Weil and James further elaborated on fond memories of the event from years past, writing, “EP is a special Exeter idiosyncrasy [...] It is a tradition connecting us to decades of Exonians and a valuable space for many in our community.”
A larger concern, however, was that the administration did not officially consult students prior to making the decision.
“As far as I can tell, there has been an overwhelmingly negative response to this change,” James said. “I think it worries the student body when these kinds of changes are made without clear explanation or clear logic and, more importantly, without any kind of dialogue between students and the administration.”
Upper Paula Perez-Glassner, meanwhile, noted that such decisions “separate the administration and the student body even more, because students are frustrated with the administration, but the administration doesn’t understand why.”
The Student Council Executive Board was not able to discuss the EP time change with the administration until after the email was sent out to the student body. According to Student Council President Elizabeth Yang, Rawson, Mischke and Assistant Principal Karen Lassey were able to provide the Board with further explanation for the change during their meeting. One reason was the campus culture surrounding EP, which may have placed romantic pressure on underclassmen.
Responding to these concerns, Principal Rawson said that he plans to engage with students in conversations before and after the policy officially goes into effect.
Students also noted that a Sunday evening EP time would conflict with extracurriculars such as The Exonian, which meets from 7 to 8 p.m. “If anything, the change poses more problems than it solves and conflicts more with academics and clubs,” James said.
This change will also affect EP performers, who worry that their events will have lower attendance than in the past. “It’s very discouraging because for me, personally, I put months of work into my EP,” Perez-Glassner said.
Perez-Glassner, who is also a day student, further mentioned that many day students do not come to campus on Sundays, especially during their prep and lower years. “There’s already enough separation between day students and boarders,” she said. “Although [the administration] is trying to integrate day students more within the dorm life, the difference still clearly divides us, and policies like this further widen that gap.”
Despite these concerns, Heath still has hopes that the old values of EP will not be lost as the tradition changes to better accommodate the community. “Evening prayer is an important tradition to many generations of Exonians,” she said. “It has grown and changed over the years to meet the needs of the community. It is an important time for connection, community, and winding down from the stress of the week. I will work to bring those things with us to the new time slot.”