Academy Prepares for Election Week
By Anvi Bhate, Tina Huang, Anya Tang and Andrew Yuan
With Election Day approaching next Tuesday, Nov. 3, Principal Rawson sent an all-community email on Oct. 16 reaffirming the Academy’s values, announcing schedule changes during Election Week and extending help for eligible student voters. Further information on these changes and support resources for community members will be posted on ExeterConnect closer to the election.
“As the U.S. presidential election approaches, we will see examples of behavior and political discourse that would not be acceptable on our campus or in our community,” Rawson wrote. The email listed unacceptable forms of speech at the Academy, including hate speech and any expression that promotes violence.
A revised election week schedule was emailed last Friday, Oct. 23, with changes reflected on the Online Schedule (OLS). H Format will be asynchronous on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and Faculty/Proctor meetings will be moved to the same day; there will be no major assignments due Wednesday, Nov. 4, and B and C Formats will be cancelled on the same day. Advising will be moved to Nov. 4, and C and D Formats will be switched on Friday, Nov. 6.
During election week, the Counseling and Psychological Services Office will hold drop-in hours for students wishing to speak with a counselor individually or gather in a safe space. Additionally, there will be “election-free” spaces and spaces for discussing the election the morning of Nov. 4. More information on hours and spaces will be posted on ExeterConnect.
Currently, no new information about voting has been provided. Two emails were sent to eligible student voters on Oct. 12 and Oct. 15 detailing the voting process. Students have the options of voting in person in New Hampshire, voting absentee in New Hampshire or voting absentee in their home state. Deadlines for requesting absentee ballots have passed in some states; the deadline to register for mail-in voting in New Hampshire was Oct. 21. Eligible voters received another email on Saturday, Oct. 17, with instructions to sign up for a voting time on Election Day.
Senior Noah Lee registered to vote at the office before chaperoned trips were announced. “I was concerned about claims that mail-in ballots would be rejected at the highest level, so I made it a focus to vote in-person,” Lee said. “My experience with the administration was slightly frustrating at first. After going through a lengthy process of petitioning to the deans and coordinating with my advisor and staff in the administration, I was finally able to register at the Town Hall and had the option of filling in my ballot and submitting my vote right there.”
Some students believed the emails could have been sent earlier with information for students absentee voting out-of-state. “October 15th was the Virginia deadline [to register to vote],” senior Julia Norsworthy-Edghill said. “Luckily, I registered early, but some people aren’t aware that there are deadlines for registering or requesting a ballot in their home state.”
“It’s not [the administration’s] job to make voting easy or provide options,” senior William Vietor said. “Students who want to vote need to take initiative and responsibility for their own vote instead of relying on others to make it ‘more accessible.’”
Students mostly appreciated the changes in schedule and support provided for an open discussion environment. “[The low-homework guidelines and schedule change will] allow the whole community to watch the election without worry of the work they didn’t do,” Vietor said. “I think it will play out well as long as teachers adhere to the guidelines, which is unfortunately not always guaranteed.”
“Both students and faculty have a lot to say about this election, and I think we could all benefit from sharing our perspectives to learn more from others,” senior Nina Weeldreyer said.
The Student Council Executive Board members discussed the school’s election response last Monday, Oct. 20, during a bi-weekly meeting with Rawson. Their requests included no homework the night of Nov. 3 and a free day for when election results are announced.
“We thought the electoral college results may not come out on Nov. 4, but Principal Rawson was pretty certain that we will know the morning after, ” Co-President and senior Charlotte Lisa said. “The rationale we heard behind still having classes was that it allowed a checkup on students. There’s fear that some students who are really distraught would stay in their room all day, which isn’t healthy.”
Lisa believed that student needs will be communicated. “One area where I do have a lot of empathy for the administration is that they can’t predict this election any better than we can,” Lisa said. “We’re pretty sure the election is on the forefront of the administration’s mind, and we’ll see soon enough what they do.”