Exeter Grapples with Police Brutality
By Andrea Luo, Kiesse Nanor and Daniel Zhang
Update: Dean of Multicultural Affairs Sami Atif wished to clarify his remarks. "To those that question my remark, f**k the police, I don’t promote hatred nor wish violence on anyone. I spoke from the perspective of black emotion. Deeper analysis yields, policing doesn’t work, not for the lifespans of officers and indeed not for the generations of Black Americans. So, if I may clarify, my disdain rests squarely on the methods, investors and upholders of modern-day policing," he said.
On May 25, 2020, George Perry Floyd, a 46-year old Black man, was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota, setting off national protests over racial injustice in the United States. Protests have occurred in over 300 cities, in all 50 states and in 18 countries. The first part of this article is a timeline of the Academy’s response to the recent unrest. The second features student, alum and faculty voices and experiences.
In the wake of thousands of Black deaths, including Floyd’s, at the hands of police officers, protesters across the nation challenged systemic racism and injustice. The Academy received widespread criticism for its response to the unrest and its perceived failure to create a supportive and nurturing environment for Black students.
Last Friday, May 29, Principal William Rawson called for compassion from the Exeter community in an all-student email. “I urge that, even from a distance, we try to hold each other more closely, that we support our students and adults of color and that we act together against racial hatred, violence and injustice,” Rawson wrote. The word “Black” was not used in the email.
On Monday afternoon, the Academy’s official Instagram account, @phillipsexeter, posted an image of two Exonians, intended to be the first in a series. An alumnus criticized the post for featuring an image of privilege during a time of national conflict. This alum personally disparaged the two students and misidentified them as white.
Current students were quick to defend their peers and criticized the alumnus for personally attacking minors. Students also noted that the Exonians themselves did not choose the timing of the post. At the same time, many condemned @phillipsexeter for being “ridiculous and insensitive,” as senior Alisha Simmons put it. On the now-archived post, students called for more correspondence than a two-paragraph email.
On Monday evening, Rawson released an all-school email with a three-minute video statement enclosed. The video was reposted to @phillipsexeter.
Rawson received further criticism for not using the word “Black” and only referencing white students in his video. “I know many students, many white students, have reached out to their peers of color to provide support and understanding,” Rawson said.
“So are you donating to funds that support [Black Lives Matter]?” Simmons commented under the video. “So are you asking alumni to donate? Where are the links to resources to educate people? Where are the links to organizations to donate to? Where are the links to mental health resources for black students? And for the love of god, can you say the word ‘black’? It’s about black people not students of color. Black. People.”
Rawson later apologized in an interview with The Exonian for not using the word “Black.” “I have told students that I was wrong in my video message not to speak in this moment specifically to anti-Black violence and injustice, and not to condemn specifically anti-Black racism,” he said. “I will speak specifically to anti-Black violence and anti-Black racism in my graduation remarks and other communications.”
“Open your purse,” numerous students added in Instagram comments beneath Rawson’s video.
On Tuesday, June 2, @phillipsexeter posted an image of a black screen with the caption text “#blackouttuesday,” participating in an online trend to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The trend itself came under widespread criticism for its performative nature and for its use of the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, drowning out other resources from the Black Lives Matter movement. @phillipsexeter disabled comments for the post.
“Imma need you to turn comments on because if you had them on you would have a bunch of people telling you it’s not right,” Wynter Tracey ‘19 posted to their story. “Are your black students only good for marketing and educating their racist white peers? It is as SIMPLE as saying that [Black] Lives Matter and the school can’t even seem to do that… this is a very specific conversation that needs to be had about the way BLACK students are and continue to be simultaneously used, reviled and ignored on that campus. The PR talk is not enough at this point.”
@phillipsexeter later modified their caption to “#blackouttuesday black lives matter.”
After more criticism directed towards the trend itself, @phillipsexeter once again edited their caption to “blackouttuesday black lives matter.”
Students then mobilized through social media to demand that Exeter’s governing bodies contribute financially to Black Lives Matter and companion causes, commit to hiring more faculty of color and transform campus to a safe space for Black students.
A petition between Exeter and Phillips Academy Andover students garnered more than 895 signatures, calling for four demands: the explicit acknowledgement of nationwide and internal anti-Blackness, as well as the formation of a plan to support Black students; the use of both academies’ platforms to expand education about race and to recruit more employees of color; donations to civil rights organizations assisting Black Americans; the hosting of a Giving Day to such civil rights organizations, comparable to the annual Exeter/Andover Giving Days.
Despite this petition, the Academy’s Interim Chief Financial Officer, Marijka Beauchesne, provided the following statement:
“Exeter is a school which has its mission [to] ‘unite goodness and knowledge and inspire youth from every quarter to lead purposeful lives.’ The Academy’s resources have been entrusted to us for the purpose of advancing that mission, and we devote those resources to financial aid for our students, the salaries, benefits and professional development of our adults, and the safety and preservation of our facilities.”
“As considerable as our resources are—and as fortunate as we are to have them—our needs and aspirations in the areas of student financial aid, support for our adults and care for our facilities invariably exceed our resources. For example, we are able to provide financial aid to nearly half of our students, though we know that fewer than 5% of American families can afford an Exeter education without financial aid, so that we have work to do on the financial aid front to fulfill our mission for youth from every quarter.”
“In addition, a substantial portion of our financial resources are restricted as to how we can use them—we are legally obliged to use those funds in accordance to the donor’s instructions. Because of the unmet needs of our mission, and because of the legal considerations we must obey, we are committed to directing our resources to addressing the needs of the Exeter community’s members.”
On June 3, Exeter hosted Community Healing Sessions in five affinity spaces (Black/African-American, Latinx, Asian/Pacific-Islander, American Indian/Alaskan Native, White) led by faculty members. The Academy chose affinity spaces to remove the burden of education from Black students.
“Our Dean of Students Office, Office of Multicultural Affairs, faculty, advisers, affinity groups and many others are working hard to support our students and especially our Black students during these difficult times,” Rawson said. “Affinity healing spaces were provided [on Wednesday]. Faculty have used classroom time. There is no more important work that the school is doing right now. Discussions are being held to consider how the work can continue over the summer.”
Rawson renewed the Academy’s dedication to providing a diverse and safe space for Black students on campus. “Without a doubt, these tragic events will be a catalyst for renewed effort to provide greater support for Black students and faculty and all other students and adults of color in our community, work harder to increase the diversity of our faculty and other departments, increase diversity in leadership positions, and, importantly, improve our retention of faculty of color,” he said to The Exonian.
Rawson thanked students and faculty of color for their responses. “Many Black students, Black faculty and other students and faculty of color have written to me, called me or met with me over the last few days to express their deep pain and seek change in our community,” he said. “I am grateful for every voice. The call to action is compelling, and we are determined to respond with meaningful action.”
In an email from Rawson affirming Exeter’s commitment to Black lives, a safe community, and Black faculty retention, he further announced the formation of a Trustee Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, to be led by Trustee Jackie Hayes ’85, “to engage with faculty, staff and administrators and support the important work that needs to be done.” More information is forthcoming on these initiatives. Phillips Exeter has shared resources pertaining to racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement on its website. The Afro-Latinx Exonian Society (ALES) urged students to educate themselves in a statement with resources on Black Lives Matter and racial justice. “Before you look at and take full advantage of the resources listed below, we ask that our non-Black allies check in on their peers, friends and families,” the 53rd ALES Board wrote. “In this difficult, painful time, we wish that you do not put the burden of education on your Black-identifying peers. By asking them to engage in discourse for your betterment and growth, they must set aside emotional labor. They need time and space to process, grieve, and heal more than any of us. We encourage you to look towards educating yourself through the reading list and links attached instead.”
Voices
The following Black students gave The Exonian their perspectives, requesting that their comments be included in full. The Exonian is honored to share their voices.
Senai Robinson ‘21, Student Council Co-President: “I am black man watching racism who has been given the privilege of being one of two Student Council presidents. As both a black student and president, I abhor the response of Exeter’s adult leadership. I understand the limitations and hesitations. I understand Exeter’s non-profit status. But my fear and life shall not be devalued to a status. It will not be devalued to [an] Instagram post. It will not be devalued for ‘thoughts and prayers.’ A while back, an amazing black faculty member said to me that students of Exeter are not likely going to see the Deans and Principal lead their students in a Black Lives Matter protest. And for so long, I’ve accepted that. I’ve played my part of the palatable calm black man so that my voice isn’t undermined. So I want it to be heard loud and clear when I speak this. Breonna Taylor's life is worth more than white institutions’ appeasement of non-black families and partners. George Floyd is worth more. Tony McDade is worth more.”
“I don’t wish to debate whether or not the actions Exeter has taken are worth little because to some it’s worth [much]. But I am saying that I am tired of ‘first steps.” I’m tired of ‘my hope.’ Make it a reality.”
Adar Tulloch ‘19: “I think that, as an alum, it is extremely disappointing to see the silence on behalf of the academy. For a school built upon the message of non sibi, it certainly has not felt like Exeter has truly been empathetic of its Black students during this crisis. But I cannot say that I am completely surprised, looking back at my four years at Exeter, where I saw the disproportionate turnover rate of Black faculty, which I tried to hint at in my comment. And now what we have currently is a culmination of the administration’s lack to the commitment of social justice and utter ignorance of how to support their Black students manifested as a slew of misguided, pandering-politician-like comments of our principal; ‘you reap what you sow’ now puts us all in this anguished position. Along the lines of James Baldwin: I love Exeter, and for that reason I ‘insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.’”
“The administration has got to step up and take action that reflects an authentic support towards Black and Brown students.”
Josh Riddick ‘20 sent an email to the Varsity Football program entitled “Dear Exeter Football,” addressing the explicit racism he experienced and witnessed in his four years at the Academy. His words are below:
“In my first week at Exeter, during my first football preseason, I was 14 years old when our old head coach used the n-word in front of our entire football program. I remember watching in shock as not a single member of our football program spoke out against him publicly and would continue to let this incident circulate only in private conversations. It was never publicly reported until I took it to our Director of Athletics during my lower winter. No follow-up on the incident occurred and I was encouraged to have ‘honest conversations’ about his language with him in the future.”
“During my lower spring in 2018, while participating in JV Lacrosse, I was included on an email [chain] from the [Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse] captains. The email chain was intended to be a ‘motivational’ pump-up for the Deerfield rivalry that weekend. One of the messages from a white [alum ‘13] in the chain read, ‘They are a bunch of stuck up f*[*]ks, but yall [sic] n*[***]s need to show them what getting STUCK the f*[*]k up really means.’ This was sent to a team with a single-digit number of black players and 40-50+ white players. This email chain containing this message had been forwarded to the entire lacrosse program for multiple years prior to me reading it. I still wonder how many young black men had to read that message and still pretend to feel safe and included in the Exeter lacrosse program and in Exeter athletics as a whole.”
“During my four years, I have also experienced multiple students, including members of our very own Exeter Football Program, use the n-word in front of me and towards me. Sometimes, they were singing along to songs and sometimes, it was just a way to provoke me or get a reaction out of me.”
“They understood the hurt that hearing white people say that word brings me, yet did it anyways because ‘they forgot’ or even worse—just to see me upset so they could laugh. Because using the n-word around black people is ‘funny’ to them. Understand that when you use the n-word as a white kid in front of your black teammates, or when no one else is around, you are only helping to perpetuate and normalize harmful behavior that reinforces a large system of white supremacy.”
Wynter Tracey ‘19: “The movement needs your money, time and presence: at demonstrations, in difficult conversations with your problematic peers, supporting bail funds and black-owned businesses, etc. It is a sad fact that NO amount of effort put in now will undo all the hundreds of years of damage, life lost and resources stolen from Black people; it is also absolutely up to you to make that effort now to make our futures as bright as possible.”
Ree Murphy ‘20: “In terms of how the Academy has handled things, I think it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The hard part about being a student looking in is that there is so much we don't know. Do I think the post was poorly timed? Absolutely. However, I also think the Exeter Instagram is an institutional Instagram that is likely automated and pre-scheduled, and the way it operates within the digital space will never look the same as how we are all personally used to operating our own social media platforms. In other words, while I recognize the post's insensitivity, I also recognize that instagram is not to me what it is to ‘Phillips Exeter Academy.’”
“To that end, when we can reach our administrators via email, it seems misguided to attempt communication through an institutional Instagram. Exeter has had varying levels of silence on many issues regarding the support of students of color (especially black students), and I do believe that there are many working to change this who are on campus right now. So I encourage them to reach out to students and/or student leaders first in order to ask what they can do so as to take the burden off of us to reach out first. [Dean of Students Brooks] Moriarty’s email with resources, the affinity Zooms and (especially) [Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA)] office hours are incredible examples of initiatives students want and need. I challenge Principal Rawson (as well as the deans and others) to have conversations in which they collaborate with students to consider what the ideal ‘Phillips Exeter’ looks like, what current institutional limits are and how they can work towards building the school we know Exeter can be. I encourage them to very actively and openly include alumni in these communications. Lastly, I encourage everyone to consider what the role of social media is supposed to be during this time, how we (and individuals within Exeter) are meant to use it as well as what the @PhillipsExeter is supposed to look like.”
“I challenge Exeter also to be absolutely clear and transparent on what their goals are regarding the support of students of color and to provide periodic updates. We have things like the OMA newsletter and the Exeter catalog that help keep everyone up to date. Joining those and available to all students/faculty/alumni should be statements outlining long term goals for Phillips Exeter and their progress (the way Exeter did the selection of the new Director of Religious Life is a good example of how this process has the potential to look). I think there is a large missing link here in terms of communication and remedying it is key to moving forward.”
“And to those reading, please know that I highly doubt many of the suggestions I bring up here are not new, nor is the call for visible action on the part of the school. My voice is one in a chorus of many who have asked before me. I implore Phillips Exeter to understand that it is not enough to say that you hear us. You must let us know (and prove) that you understand.”
Nkemjika Emenike ‘19: “The current situation has shown me who truly cares about me and my peers and our Blackness, and who was just hoping to ignore the problems of race and injustice in this country as long as possible until it was inconvenient for them. My friends and I are suffering mentally and emotionally. It's also very interesting to see so many people post about an issue that has literally been thrown in their face so many times at Exeter, and so many students being unable to comprehend or understand issues of racism when their Black peers have been speaking on it for years. I have seen many people say they are trying to learn more, which is commendable and I am glad they are now putting in the effort, but why didn't couldn't they listen when their Black classmates were telling them the exact same thing?”
“The administration continually misses the mark on handling issues of injustice. From sexual assault to racism, the administration could literally not be any worse at handling these situations. For a school with so much money, so much resources, with such educated faculty, with so many students quite literally screaming in their faces that they want better and they need better from the school, Exeter is so inadequate in every imaginable way. The administration continually fails to acknowledge and support not only its Black students, but also its teachers of color, particularly Black and Latinx faculty. Look at the high turnover rate for Black and Latinx faculty. Look at the amount of deans we have had for the Office of Multicultural Affairs in the past year alone. Look at how many Black teachers have quit this school year. For the administration to not acknowledge an issue that many of its own students and alumni have been protesting and fighting for until its students call out its complacency and silence is incredibly disturbing. The administration loves to advertise its diversity but never puts any real effort to support such a diverse population of students and faculty. It’s an embarrassment. an embarrassment.”
“When I was a student at Exeter, and alumni would come back for alumni weekend, I was always fond of my conversations with Black alumni. They would always ask ‘So what’s ALES doing? How do you feel about race relations on campus? Has ‘it’ gotten any better?’ And every black student knows what ‘it’ is, and quite frankly, no, ‘it’ hasn’t gotten better. I remember my lower year explaining to an alumni from the 1990s what was going on with ALES at the time, how a member of ALES made a video displaying the grievances and instances of racial bias that ALES members had faced in the past and how the administration just ignored them. She said, ‘Sounds like the exact same thing that happened in my day.’ Exeter handles racism by sweeping it under the rug as much as possible, coddling their white students, then issuing a statement once enough students are getting mad that it catches the attention of the Board of Trustees, making the administration look bad so they have to clean up the mess with a vague public statement.”
Dean of Multicultural Affairs Sami Atif, who will depart the Academy at the end of the year, was reached for comment. Atif said only, “F[**]k the police.”
A separate statement by faculty members of color, compiled anonymously, can be found here.