Assembly Committee Implements Assembly Format Changes
Assembly Committee Chair and English Instructor Alex Myers sent a campus-wide email last month officially inviting student organizations to host assemblies next year. “I want assembly to be inclusive, to be transparent, to involve student groups, faculty departments and staff organizations,” Myers said. “This seems like a place to start.”
The vast majority of assemblies in recent years have featured guest speakers. While some view student-run assemblies as a valuable opportunity to access the diverse talents and perspectives of the PEA community, others find it to be an unnecessary use of students’ valuable time.
Myers described this initiative as part of the Assembly Committee’s larger effort to build “a ‘season’ of assemblies that represents the range of interests and experiences at Exeter.”
Myers noted additional structural changes in his email, including the shortening of assemblies by ten minutes to make time for recently implemented attendance checks and the possibility of ten-minute half assemblies. “Half assemblies seemed like a good way to get more groups on the stage—often, we hear from clubs who want to make a video or have an extended announcement,” he said. “This could be a way to accommodate that.”
The Assembly Committee has selected four themes for next year’s assemblies: Knowledge and Goodness, Equity and Inclusion, Building Connections and The Journey. “Our goals are to use the assembly program to build a sense of community, explore and engage with our shared values and educate the students on a wide variety of topics,” Myers said. “The themes were chosen because they seemed central to the school’s mission and values and also, somewhat, unexplored.”
Myers noted that student assembly requests would be evaluated based on their relevance to these themes.
Religion Instructor and Assembly Committee member Thomas Simpson emphasized the importance of offering a mixed program. “Assemblies offer a special opportunity for the community to gather, so it’s important for the overall program to be diverse, dynamic and generative of meaningful conversation and reflection,” he said. “As a committee, we have been working hard to solicit ideas from a wide range of people.”
Lower and co-head of Random Acts of Kindness William Vietor believes the mission of his club ties in well with the assembly themes of Knowledge and Goodness and Building Connections. “We thought that the themes really embodied what Random Acts of Kindness stands for, and we’re excited to share that with the greater Exeter community,” Vietor said. “I’m really glad we had the opportunity to make that request in the first place.”
Some voiced concern about the short time frame in which clubs could submit assembly proposals. “I would say, because of the short time frame, [my club wasn’t] able to fully form a proposal or even a plan for what the assembly would be apart from informal brainstorming,” upper and DRAMAT co-head Paula Perez-Glassner said.
Others questioned the reasoning behind the shorter assembly block. “It seems counterproductive. They implemented the attendance check to have students come to assembly and listen to these speakers,” lower Isa Matsubayashi said. “If you’re spending so much effort on that, why shorten it? Why pay to bring in a speaker, only for them to speak for twenty minutes?”
Music Instructor Kristofer Johnson agreed. “We try to keep [Music Department] assemblies tight regardless, but this will undoubtedly put a little bit more pressure on making sure that we’ve programmed well and we’re not wasting time on stage,” he said.
Biology Instructor Townley Chisholm believed there were alternatives to reducing the length of assemblies. “Assembly is a tremendously important time for the whole school community to gather and experience a speaker or event together,” he said. “[I] would support moving to assigned seats so that attendance can be taken much faster.”
Nevertheless, students are optimistic about the new initiative. “I feel that the new process is a lot more orderly and organized and will hopefully lead to higher quality assemblies overall,” upper Thomas Wang said.
Upper Penny Brant shared similar sentiments. “I’m actually very happy to see this change as I think it’s a way of making student voices more prominent in the community. Assembly is an event where the entire Exeter community comes together, [but] not everyone on campus is aware of what different clubs and student groups are focusing on,” she said.
The Assembly Committee hopes their changes for next year’s program will open the Exeter community up to new experiences while staying true to the purpose and tradition of assembly. “[We] have [tried] to preserve what’s best about the assembly program while being open to what might strengthen the community’s commitment to it,” Simpson said.