Asian Students Affirm Need for Hair Emporium

By: Atishay Jain, Lauren Kim, Calista Lee

“One time I got a haircut in Jim's Barbershop and I looked in the mirror right afterwards… I swore to myself, wow, never again will I allow myself to get disrespected in this way,” senior and Asian American Hojun Choi recalled.

As the Academy approaches its final weeks of spring term, students are seeking opportunities for hair care. However, many Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) students face difficulty with barber shops in town, who are unfamiliar with some AAPI hair textures; this problem is shared by many other students of color, including Black and Latinx students. 

To accommodate students of color, the Academy established the Hair Emporium, which hosts a visiting barber familiar with different hair textures for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian and multiracial students. Although the Hair Emporium is open to Asian-identifying students, inconsistency of language in communication has left many students under the impression that the Hair Emporium was not open to AAPI students. In an email sent by Dean of Students Brooks Moriarty on April 30, Moriarty wrote that the Hair Emporium operates for "Black and LatinX students.”  

The Hair Emporium originally operated for only Black and Latinx students. In October of 2018, Associate Dean of Multicultural Student Affairs Hadley Camilus opened the service to Asian-identifying students. 

Camilus extended the service to Asian-identifying students because of the great lengths many Asian students were taking for hair care. “When I arrived here in 2017, I was told that the Hair Emporium served Black and Latinx students. As such, those were the students I reached out to regarding the service. In 2018, a student brought to my attention that many Asian students were traveling as far away as Boston for hair care. In response, I opened up the service to Asian students,” Camilus said. The Hair Emporium is prepared to style a variety of hair types and textures. 

“The barber and stylists who come to the Hair Emporium are equipped to provide hair care to students with a variety of hair textures,” Camilus said. “That is not the case with barbers in Exeter from what I have learned.”

Camilus welcomed Asian-identifying students to use the Hair Emporium services at the beginning of the school year. “My initial outreach involved going to the Asian students mixer at the beginning of the school year to let the students and club leaders know they are welcomed to use the service and to contact me about getting on the email distribution list,” Camilus said. 

Senior and Asian Voices (AV) co-head JaQ Lai explained the worries and difficulties AAPI students face which the Hair Emporium addresses. “As an Asian person with Asian hair, when I'm getting a haircut in town I can never really be sure if I should go to a barber. Would they know how to handle my hair?” Lai said. “In my mind, part of the role of the Hair Emporium, part of the reason it exists, is so that students can have a place where they don't need to worry about getting proper hair care and hair service, because there's no guarantee that they'll be able to get that specific service in the Exeter area. I think there's other aspects of that too, but in my perfect world, the Hair Emporium fulfills that role.”

Lai noted that many Asian-identifying students are unaware of the services provided to them by the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA). “The deeper thing is that not a lot of Asian students interact with OMA. I think there was a period of time this year where many people believed that the hair emporium was exclusive for Afro-Latinx identifying students. But Dean Camilus told students that the Hair Emporium was operating,” Lai said.

“When I had color in my hair, [Dean Camilus] was like, ‘If you want to get it touched up, you can do it when the barber comes in.’ He's always made that really clear to me, and I think he even put me on the list at some point. I felt like I was more plugged into OMA, or when I saw Dean Camilus in-person, I felt like I knew that that was an option to me,” Lai added. “But on a larger scale, not a lot of Asian students are really interacting with OMA that much because of that. I don't know how many Asian students know that it even exists, is the thing.”

Upper Nathan Zhou also noted that many students are unaware that the Hair Emporium is operating for Asian-identifying students. “I found out about the Hair Emporium through one of my friends, who is also Asian. I originally thought that the Hair Emporium was only open to Black and Latinx students as advertised in school-wide emails, but my friend told me that it was available to all students of color on campus,” Zhou said. “I emailed Dean Camilus, who was super friendly, and he added me to the email list and sent me the sign ups.”

Student Council President and incoming AV co-head upper Siona Jain also observed that many students believed the Hair Emporium was exclusively for Black and Latinx students. “I’ve never been to the Hair Emporium, but I’ve heard it’s a great resource. However, I do think students feel it's more catered to Black and Latinx Hair rather than East and South Asian hair, so perhaps the versatility of the emporium should be more publicized,” Jain said. “Overall though, I think the lack of haircuts we’ve received over the pandemic means the Emporium is very useful on campus!”

Lower Tammy Zhu shared similar thoughts, adding that it provided a more convenient alternative for hair services. “I would definitely consider going to the Hair Emporium in the future, especially because I’ve heard other students have good experiences,” Zhu said. “I know many people go all the way to Boston to do their hair, and I don’t think they should have to do that, so I just hope that more students become more aware of this service!”  

Many Asian-identifying students expressed preference for Asian barbers or barbers equipped to work with diverse hair types. Upper Krishna Deora emphasised that Asian hair is different to hair that many barbers in America are familiar with. “I definitely know some people who [having a barber experienced with different hair types] matters too. There are some ways that hair is cut in regions of Asia that is not cut frequently in America,” Deora said. “Thus, I think a barber [skilled to work with a variety of textures] would definitely make people more comfortable during their haircuts knowing that someone who understood what they wanted was cutting their hair. I think that it is an option that should be made readily available.”

Prep Nhan Phan agreed and stated the importance of having a barber with diverse skills. “Having a more diverse selection of barbers benefits the school community greatly,” Phan said. “It would make the haircut experience for Asian-identifying students more comfortable and more suitable.” 

Upper Arya Nistane noted that it is non-white barbers are typically harder to find around Exeter. “Especially here in Exeter, New Hampshire where there is such a high white population, Asians are a minority population whose hair may not be cut in a way that traditional barber shops are used to cutting,” Nistane said. 

Upper Celine Gu appreciated the Academy’s accommodation for students of color. “I know that oftentimes, before COVID, students would go to Boston specifically for hair care, which I think is unrealistic especially with how busy everybody’s lives here are,” Gu said. “It’s definitely comforting to know that there is a barber skilled with a variety of hair types available so close to us, because especially with COVID, options for hair care are far more limited.”

Some Asian-identifying students have a distrust for barber shops in town because of past experiences. Zhu has traveled to Boston for hair care due to a lack of comfortability with in-town hair salons in past years. “I’m inclined to travel to Boston to cut my hair because I’m personally picky with who does my hair. I haven’t gotten a haircut in Exeter because I don’t feel entirely comfortable with having someone who doesn’t know how to cut Asian hair do mine. That is, before I knew about the Hair Emporium,” Zhu said.

Similarly, Choi typically travels to Boston for hair services instead of using those in town. “Whenever my mom came up, like during family weekend, we’d go to Boston together, have Korean food, and get my haircut right afterwards. I usually go to a Japanese guy in Boston,” Choi said. “Sometimes getting haircuts does feel slightly limiting because it’s unrealistic for many students to go to Boston for haircuts.”

Many Asian-identifying students who have used the Hair Emporium’s services have had positive experiences. Phan enjoyed his experience at the Hair Emporium. “I went to the Hair Emporium [since] Dean Camilus offered the opportunity to attend the Hair Emporium to Asian identifying students too! I don’t have a preference over what nationality the barber is, but I am fine with all options,” Phan said.

Zhou, who traveled to Boston for haircuts in past years, was satisfied with his haircut from the Hair Emporium. “I think the Hair Emporium is great. I actually went a couple of weeks ago, and it was cost friendly and the barber did a really good job with my hair,” Zhou said. “Last year, I would go to Chinatown in Boston to get my hair cut, and the Hair Emporium did just as good as my barber in Chinatown would. I would definitely go back [to the Hair Emporium] again, and I really appreciate Exeter for doing this for students of color.”