Academy Instates New Assembly Attendance Policy
By Lilia Fectua, Ellen Jin, Forrest Zeng
On April 14, the Academy began a new pilot program regarding attendance at assembly. The pilot program was originally set to take place over two assemblies, but has since been extended indefinitely. The program requires students to sit with their advisory in assigned seating areas where attendance is taken by individual advisors. The new pilot program was launched as a result of decreasing attendance at assemblies.
In an email to the student body, Dean of Students Russell Weatherspoon stated, “Assembly is a required appointment. Our role as an audience is to give presenters our attention and, when there’s an opportunity, to ask questions or provide reactions, even challenges.”
Students’ opinions on the new pilot program were generally negative. Because the Assembly Hall reached maximum capacity, some students were situated in the Latin Study next door, where they watched the assembly through a projector screen. Lower Jaylen Bennett, who sat with his advisory in the Latin Study, said, “The students that were in there weren’t really focused on the assembly. A lot of them were on their phones and doing their homework.”
“[Watching assembly in from the Latin Study] would be an unfortunate situation,” lower Sarah Huang added. “It is unfair to those students. The quality of the video recording is low and you can’t hear what they’re saying. It doesn’t foster a sense of community if you’re not sitting with the rest of the school.”
Reflecting on the crowded space, upper Corinne Morrison said, “I really dislike it, and not because I have to come to assembly, but I think just because of the space. There’s no space for anybody and it’s really hard to enjoy assembly now.”
Students report feeling a decreased sense of freedom in the new pilot program. Morrison said, “There’s people keeping tabs on you all the time. It can be a good thing, but I feel like it’s a little too much right now. We should be responsible to bring ourselves to assembly without an adult doing it for us.”
Lower Anneliese Conine agreed, “I think that the new Assembly policy makes Assembly seem less like something that we’re supposed to enjoy and learn from and more of something that’s required, and harsh. It feels almost like a punishment.”
Advisors generally felt that the new system is important for encouraging assembly attendance. Instructor in Religion Austin Washington said, “I think the policy is helpful for making sure students are encouraged to participate in the assemblies that Exeter offers. The policy helps us underline the importance and the value, probably more than anything else, the value of these kinds of gatherings on our student population.”
In regard to the overflow of students in the Assembly Hall, Washington said, “The school recognizes that the Assembly Hall is too small. The Assembly Hall capacity is one of the topics that’s brought up most when thinking about school renovations. It’s a shame because the students can’t fit in the Assembly Hall to listen to the speakers that come in.”
However, to Instructor in Music Kristofer Johnson, this system is a way to hold students responsible for their own attendance. “There is more accountability in this new system and students know that they will be accountable for showing up every time,” Johnson added. “It is a response to the fact that assembly attendance has been less than stellar.”
The pilot program was evaluated after two Assemblies and the Academy determined that they would be continuing the program.
Some students predicted this continuation. “I don’t think it’ll affect Assembly attendance unless we actually continue doing this.” Huang said. “If next year they removed this, in the beginning of the year, all the people are going to go, and then of course towards the end of the year people get more lenient and stop going. Unless they continue enforcing this attendance policy, I don’t think that this policy is going to affect the Assembly.”
Conine agreed, mentioning that people might be there just for the attendance mark. “More people will be there because they don’t want to get unexcused absences, but you have to think about how many people are actually paying attention,” Conine said. “I think that more people will show up but less people will be paying attention.”
Washington stressed the scope of learning that comes with assembly and his urge to students to attend. “As someone who was new to the Academy, looking at who came to assembly was kind of mind boggling,” Washington said. “Watching these people discuss real issues with high school students is an incredible kind of privilege. I don’t want students to undervalue the significance of this opportunity.”
