General Alumni Association Discusses DEI Vision

By Audrey Dent, Ashley Jane, Junhyeok Jang, Lucy Jung, Lauren Kim, Emilia Kniestedt, Lauren Lee

On Friday, Sept. 16, the Academy welcomed alumni back to campus for the Senior-Alumni Dinner and Exeter Leadership Weekend, offering in-person opportunities for students to connect with the alumni body. Over the next year, the General Alumni Association (GAA), a board consisting of over 22,000 former Academy students, hopes to develop more opportunities for students, Trustees, and alumni to connect.

Among members of the GAA, 25 are annually elected to serve on the Board of Directors. The board is led by four Executive Officers, who also represent the Academy’s trustees. Many of the GAA’s duties include planning class reunions, strengthening alumni relations with the Academy community, and hosting the annual Exeter Leadership Weekend. This year’s newly-elected Board of Directors include Julian Bobb ’90 P’24, Veronica Juarez ’00, Lori V. Lincoln ’86, and Kwabena Safo-Agyekum ’02.

Bobb shared his understanding of the purpose of the GAA. “The [role of the] GAA [isn’t] necessarily a change agent with respect to Academy policy and plans,” Bobb said. “We are a portal through which ideas and thoughts can be communicated to the other side, and hopefully through that communication, the alumni will have a better sense of what is going on at the Academy, and the Academy can get a pulse of the alumni’s feelings on certain issues.”

Principal Bill Rawson ’71 P’08 described his role in engaging with the GAA. “GAA Directors help identify opportunities to strengthen the connections alumni have with the school and with each other,” Rawson said. “I typically meet with the GAA Directors when they are on campus and met with them last month during Exeter Leadership Weekend. They are a diverse and committed group of alumni, and I find it helpful to hear their perspective on a wide range of issues.”

“The GAA is really valued as important thought partners to the Academy’s leadership, faculty and staff. The idea is that we are in touch with a number of alumni and can bring that messaging and work back to the school. It’s super important to be able to have that line of communication towards the Academy administration,” Juarez added. “There is… opportunity for us to evolve as a GAA board and show up in the ways that alumni and students would like us to.”

President of the Trustees and alumnus Morgan Sze ’83 described the GAA as having “its own governance and operates independently of the trustees, undertaking various initiatives to serve our alumni community, selecting each year’s Founders’ Day Award recipient and recommending each year’s John and Elizabeth Phillips Award recipient to the trustees.”

“The selection of these awardees from among all our distinguished alumni is an important responsibility and an important way the Directors support the mission of the school,” Rawson added.

Many GAA Directors credited the Academy for instilling communication skills and broadening their perspectives. “Exeter was the first place [where] I gained an appreciation for people from different walks of life than myself,” Juarez said. “Having friends from different countries that I had never visited, friends from other states, and friends from different socioeconomic backgrounds really opened my eyes to a global world that I had not experienced before.”

“[Additionally,] what’s most dear to my heart is that Exeter gave me skills to be able to explore my intellectual curiosity in a way that I could emulate throughout my life,” Juarez continued, “It’s what keeps me really engaged and allows me to create new opportunities for myself professionally.”

“My time [at Exeter] let me know that whatever my passions were, I could work towards them and would have the support to be able to achieve any goals that [I wished to pursue],” Safo-Agyekum agreed.

“One thing you would hear a lot of Exonians say is that we learned how to write at Exeter. That is a skill I have leaned on, even in my first career in a trade,” Lincoln said.

The skills and perspective which she gained at Exeter motivated Juarez to serve as a GAA Director. “Because Exeter gave me so much, I am really motivated to give back. The other piece that’s very salient for me is that Exeter as an institution at the center of enormous power, privilege, influence, access, and opportunity. It sits at a very unique position, not shared by very many educational institutions, and so my personal interest is to be a part of the community that is going to continue to have an impact on the world.”

President of the General Alumni Association and Trustee of the Academy Betsy Fleming ‘86 shared her involvement in the GAA. “A vibrant alumni network enhances the whole Exeter community,” Fleming said. “Since becoming a GAA Director, I have been actively involved in improving communications between the Academy and alumni, growing alumni engagement around shared affinities and interests, and selecting awards recipients.”

The GAA works with various institutions on campus, including the Alumni Relations team at the Office of Institutional Advancement. “The GAA Directors work closely with the Office of Institutional Advancement–helping to spread the word about the Exeter experience today to the broader alumni community, providing feedback on alumni engagement and fundraising initiatives, and sharing with the Institutional Advancement team what they are hearing from members of the general alumni association,” Rawson said.

Director of Alumni Relations Michelle Curtin described the collaboration between the Alumni Relations team and the GAA. “I work very closely with the [GAA] Board of Directors on opportunities to connect alumni to each other and then back to the academy, whether that be regionally or when they’re here on campus,” Curtin said. “Most recently, we’ve worked with the GAA Directors to develop these three subcommittees that are focused around affinity engagement, communications and community, and participation.”

Fleming elaborated on the goals of the three GAA subcommittees: to “create opportunities for dialogue and community-building,” Fleming said. “I am very excited about the work of all three of these committees. With such intentional focus, it is my sense that we can make a significant difference in all three areas over the next two years.”

Bobb shared his goals as a GAA Director on the Affinity Engagement committee. “As a member of the Affinity Engagement Committee, I am personally interested in acting as a bridge for other Black and Brown Alumni of the Academy. The Afro-Latinx Exonian Society Community played a major role in my experience at the Academy, and I feel a strong kinship with all of its Members through the generations of Exonians,” Bobb said.

In planning initiatives focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, such as affinity groups on campus, the GAA also closely collaborates with the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA). “The things that we do on our end further the GAA’s mission to strengthen alumni connections to one another and to the Academy, and often and in many ways, our work will benefit current students. For example, the golf tournament that we host here in DC raises funds for scholarships that support diversity, equity, and inclusion— in particular, the William H. Bolden Scholarship Fund. Mr. Bolden was from Washington, DC, and was Exeter’s first Black faculty member,” Lincoln said.

Fleming described the role of Trustees in supporting initiatives of the GAA. “There is strong support around the GAA Directors’ initiatives among Trustees, with a keen interest in continuing to strengthen alumni relations with the Academy and among alumni,” Fleming said. “There is also an openness to listen to the feedback and insights of GAA Directors, particularly in relation to what we hear and experience when engaging with alumni beyond the Academy.”

Many GAA Directors plan to utilize social media platforms and focus on social media strategy to increase interactions between students and alumni. “I think that this tenure of the GAA is more tapped into how [students] are communicating and interacting with each other,” Safo-Agyekum said. “We are really trying to leverage the infrastructure that already exists into creating new connections, and really working to create a pipeline for Exonians.”

“One of the goals that we have is to raise awareness on social media. Hopefully, you’ll be able to see a GAA handle on Instagram, a GAA presence on LinkedIn, and on other [platforms] where we know that both students and alumni are participating,” Safo-Agyekum continued.

Juarez shared the factors she considers in order to strengthen the GAA’s social media presence, saying “We’re excited to look at our social media strategy and see if there’s ways that we can really deepen the social media strategy and how we’re connecting with folks… [we’re focused on] how we [can] engage alumni and get them to participate with the school.”

GAA Directors also hope to implement more inclusivity measures within the Academy, especially in accordance with the DEI Vision Statement.

Juarez also shared her excitement at the multitude of affinity spaces on campus. “There’s so many amazing initiatives and things happening that I had no idea about. For example, all the affinity groups didn’t all exist when I was there. To hear about affinity groups from so many of the students, everything from ethnic identity affinity groups to the number of business clubs that now exist, there are so many ways in which I feel like the students are showing up,” says Juarez.

“I’m open to contributing to the Academy and in any way that I’m uniquely able to support initiatives that are important to students. But, I really believe that the DEI vision statement shows that we as an institution are very serious about leading the way as an inclusive and equitable organization,” Juarez continued.

This year’s board is working to connect students with alumni whenever possible, especially through in-person events such as Senior-Alumni Dinner and Exeter Leadership Weekend. “I had the chance to attend the Senior-Alumni Dinner and learned a great deal about what’s happening on campus…[and] how the students are feeling and what their sentiments are with regards to COVID-19 learning and living. [Our role] is really about fostering more of those interactions.” Safo-Agyekum said.

Looking ahead, this year’s newly elected GAA Directors are hopeful to engage with and better understand the Phillips Exeter Academy of today. “Something that I didn’t have any appreciation for when I was a student is you’re going to be an alum of Exeter for a lot longer than you’re going to be a student,” Juarez reflected. “Because [as students] we don’t really talk about what kind of alumni you’re gonna be or think about and how you’re gonna be engaged with the school.”

“I’m learning more about [current student] experiences, especially after Assembly, and hearing from so many of you. It’s really important for me to educate myself on what is happening at the Academy and not jump to conclusions,” Juarez continued. “I have been really inspired by a lot of the work that has been taken on by Principal Rawson, a number of faculty members at the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and the Dean of Students office with Dean Weatherspoon.”

Sze applauded the GAA on their past and future initiatives. “The GAA plays an invaluable role in engaging with our alumni locally and globally,” Sze said. “We are very fortunate to have such a vibrant community of dedicated volunteers supporting the Academy and our students.”