Alumna and Teacher Polly MacMullen Passes Away at 60
The Exeter community lost Polly MacMullen, 60—loyal emerita ’76, committed coach, accomplished athlete and dedicated educator—to cancer on March 21. Former students and colleagues reached out extensively over Facebook and on other platforms to express the grief and pain left in the wake of her passing.
MacMullen was deeply committed to the Exeter community. After growing up on campus with her parents who taught at the Academy, MacMullen arrived at Exeter as a new lower in 1973, only the Academy’s third year of co-education.
MacMullen’s 50-year reunion was unfortunately only four years away at the time of her passing and fellow classmates were devastated by the news. Pam Lester ’76, MacMullen’s lower-year roommate, described her as “a wonderful, supportive friend with an incredible, positive attitude.” Lester emphasized MacMullen’s role as the first person she ever met on campus and the lasting impact of her company, saying “I will always love and miss her.”
Similarly, alumnus Tyler Weitzman ’14 remembered MacMullen as his “first teacher at Exeter” who helped him adjust to Academy life. Specifically, he described her as “the person who, in my prep fall, taught me to show up to class on time, to wear my dress shirt tucked in and to finish both my breakfast and my homework before class.”
Lester spoke to MacMullen’s legacy and how she touched the lives of all those she taught. “Polly was always supportive, calm, reflective—and of course very very smart as well,” Lester said. “When I visited her as an adult, I saw what a good influence she was on the students.”
Weitzman further illustrated the influence of MacMullen’s passion for teaching young kids, attesting that her “real strong will and a strong love for her students, [made] her one of the most talented teachers I’ve had the pleasure to study with in my schools through Exeter and Stanford.” Weitzman continued, “It is rare to find a teacher who is loving, caring and joyful with students and at once strict, smart and serious about the subject taught, and Ms. MacMullen had both in spades.”
MacMullen remained involved in Exeter long after she retired, sticking around the girls’ lacrosse team as the game clock keeper and continuous fan. Current head coach of the team Christina Breen, who had a close relationship with MacMullen, recalled that MacMullen was “so encouraging and invested in our progress.”
MacMullen’s brother and Headmaster at The Taft School, Willy MacMullen, commented on her nature as a coach, saying “she was so proud of watching girls excel, and there was a deep, stubborn and unyielding commitment to girls’ opportunities.”
All those who knew MacMullen described her as tough: tough on her athletes, her students and on her illness. “She discussed her illnesses very matter of factly … I do not think I ever heard her complain about her illness or any of her medical treatments,” Lester said. Similarly, Breen added that “Polly was a tough cookie.”
All those who knew her can attest to MacMullen’s warm presence and enduring legacy. The editors of The Exonian extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Polly MacMullen. She will be greatly missed.