Clubs At Exeter Are Broken
By JAYDEN OH ‘28
Andover’s campus flooded with red. They wore broken red glasses, red cowboy hats, and cardboard boxes with math equations written in red. They intentionally hunched their backs, hung their necks forward, and bit down on their lower lips. It was their annual tradition called “Exeter Geek Day.” This special trend of Andover’s students is nothing to be upset about but rather a joke of themselves, which is self-descriptive and disregarded.
Ava Ratcliff, in her commentary for The Phillipian’s “The Good In Geek Day,” wrote, “Although I was overjoyed to see Andover crush Exeter, I was even happier to see a friend. We are now rivals, but we can still appreciate our past experiences together.” Here, Ratcliff attempted to describe how school rivalry doesn’t affect individual relationships. However, ironically, this proves quite the opposite, where she will leave their relationship in the “past” as they became “rivals.”
She further claimed that “students at both Andover and Exeter welcome academic rigor and could both be classified as “geeks,” advancing her argument that they are “poking fun at ourselves as well.” While this seems like an agreeable joke between the two schools, it did not take long to find out that this was not even agreed upon by their own students.
Esther Maxine, a recent Andover alum, posted on Instagram that Exeter Geek Day is “the only day on which, the stupider you look, the better.” This implies superiority over the “stupid” Exonians. Thus, ironically, while forcing geeky stereotypes on us, they also claim to be smarter than us.
As ironic as their defense of Exeter Geek Day, the ineffectiveness of their “tradition” becomes strikingly evident. Another commentary in The Phillipian, “A Critique of Geek Day,” stated, “Our culture embraces words like ‘geek’ and ‘nerd’ without fear of judgment or ostracism.” Their goal — bringing school spirit and promoting healthy rivalry — fails because this clash deviates from the “school rivalry.” The ostracism and mocking are seemingly targeted at Exeter, yet this inherently ridicules the idea of learning itself. As students, whether in Exeter or Andover, the love of learning is something that we ought to embrace and pursue. Hence, employing the stereotypical nerd image on students is harmful and inappropriate for building a “school spirit.”
We are aware that this tradition comes with a long history, and it became a highlight in Andover’s spirit week. However, it is not right to make students “uncomfortable or unwelcomed.” Tease the school, not the students. You are more than welcome to tell us that you are better than us. Yet, it is not rightful hate for you to stab a knife at both of us, tearing the core values that bring us together.
