Political Classrooms
By ANDREW BOOVA ‘26
Why do classrooms have political statements plastered on the walls? Why does the backdrop of a Calculus class need to have a “Be anti-racist” poster? This opinion piece will focus on the central point of these political banners and the intended vs. unintended consequences of their presence.
Why are certain posters unintentionally political?
When I walked into math, I expected the room to be decked out in math posters and fancy theorems written on whiteboards. Instead, the first thing I noticed was a poster stating “Black Lives Matter” (BLM). At the bottom in italics, it also said that it was paid for by the Black Lives Matter group. Is this statement inherently political? No. I have never personally encountered someone who genuinely thought contrary to this statement. What I have seen, however, is the weaponization of this phrase to push for political agendas far removed from the basic statement that the lives of Black people matter. The founders of the Black Lives Matter “non-profit” group have openly supported radical political slogans and ideas such as abolishing capitalism and abolishing all police and prisons. This clearly demonstrates a far-left political agenda that creates an unfriendly environment to moderate students. Another common sight in classrooms at Exeter is the LGBT flag. I bear no personal bias against people’s choices, but like BLM posters, the flag is often politically weaponized, overshadowing the individuals it represents. On Nov. 19, 2022, a gunman entered a gay nightclub and opened fire. The media framed the issue quite partisanly, saying that if you didn’t support gun control, you were somehow homophobic. I don’t believe the two issues are linked in any real way. I will also add that the rainbow symbology was adopted from its first biblical use after the “Noah’s Ark” story. This is a key point for the rest of the article; the BLM poster and LGBT flag don’t represent only the original demographic, but many other associated left-wing ideas.
Why do we have these posters/flags?
There are a variety of reasons why a faculty member may choose to hang a political poster on the wall, many of these being reasons I agree with. The most obvious motive would be to create an “inclusive” environment. I personally define inclusiveness as everyone, no matter their background or identity, having an equal share in the space, whether it be a classroom or a public area. Another reason these posters may be hung is to make people feel accepted. In the United States, we have a list of bedrock principles known as the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment outlines the right to freedom of speech. This year, the Supreme Court reinforced the ban on compelled speech in the case 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, a now-famous case about a Christian wedding website designer who refused to make a website for a gay couple due to religious beliefs. While these posters don’t necessarily violate this, they create a culture where dissenting views are socially discouraged, effectively pressuring speech. That is completely un-American.
The third reason for which I believe the posters are hung is to promote progressive ideas. I completely disagree with this effort. Inclusiveness and acceptance in principle are good, but schools don’t serve the purpose of indoctrination. A faculty member overtly promoting ideas that are not universally agreed upon can be dangerous in a classroom setting, especially a Harkness classroom. While the teacher has the right to decorate the classroom how they want, it is important to recognize that students must participate in a Harkness discussion in that environment. I believe that no political angle should dominate a classroom based on the free exchange of ideas.
Do the posters achieve their goals?
Do the flags make every group feel included and accepted? Do they successfully promote progressive ideas? If the answer to those questions is yes, then they achieve their goals. So let’s answer them.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Do these flags really make people feel included? From my own personal experience, the answer is no. I am a Jew, and in the 2022-23 school year, I saw a plethora of messages supporting Jews on walls around the school. There are two reasons I didn’t feel supported by these. These posters were hanging only while people like Kanye West and Roger Waters were espousing radical anti-semitic ideas. A month later, the posters were all gone. Does anti-semitism only matter when it’s in the news cycle? That isn’t real support if so. I also didn’t personally know anyone who hung the posters. A more personal message goes a long way compared to a poster hanging on a wall. Did the people who put them up actually care about Jews, or were they just virtue-signaling I wondered? Well, now I have an answer. In the aftermath of 1500 innocent Jews being slaughtered in Israel, exactly zero signs popped up around campus in support of the Jewish community. It’s as if we were used to demonstrate fealty to a progressive agenda, and sadly, innocent Jews don’t fall under that umbrella.
These posters succeed in promoting progressive ideas. Progressivism is often defined in simplest terms as making certain social change and progress. In 2023, LGBT, anti-law enforcement, and socialist causes often fall under the progressive umbrella. These are all posters I have seen around campus, contributing to the undeniable left-leaning social dynamic at Exeter.
While these flags do promote progressive ideals, not everyone feels accepted and included, which, to answer this section’s broad question, would mean the posters/flags do not succeed in their goals.
What are the unintended effects?
1: Harkness censorship: The Harkness pedagogy is built upon the ability of students to freely express their beliefs on various topics, some being highly controversial. If a pride flag is hung in a religion class, for example, it would create pressure on many religious students who feel as if they can’t express beliefs contrary to the ideas expressed by and associated with the flag. Imagine if a religion teacher put up a statement saying “Abortion is murder.” This message would certainly not be allowed to remain on the walls, yet a pride flag is allowed. This is especially an issue when Harkness contributions are a crucial part of one’s grade. How is that fair to students in the ideological minority?
2: Social censorship where mainstream ideas are shouted down as racist, sexist, etc: I have been called basically every -ism and -ist there is since arriving at Exeter for beliefs that significant portions of America outside the Northeast agree with. This isn’t just something that has happened to me. The majority of people I know on campus, even many liberals and progressives, have at some point been literally or figuratively shouted down for reasonable opinions. As Governors Sununu and Lamont said, the biggest issue in our nation today is a lack of respectful political dialogue because everyone sees the other side(s) as villains who must be defeated. When only one portion of the political spectrum is represented in campus posters and assembly speakers, it drives the notion that there is a correct set of ideas and anyone else must be shut down.
3: Right-leaning students not feeling accepted: As mentioned, almost every single political poster/flag is left-leaning. Socially right-leaning students such as myself are directly affected by that almost daily in Harkness classes and around campus. Many conversations about seemingly harmless topics such as sports or books frequently devolve into a political argument that leaves at least one side feeling bad. This disproportionately hurts right-wing students who are in the minority at Exeter. If we are to fix the political discourse, this trend cannot continue.
How can we actually make Exeter more inclusive?
As I have said, I completely agree with the idea of making Exeter an inclusive space. However, I am not referring to immutable characteristics which often assume the spotlight. Idealogical diversity is paramount at a school where learning is based upon an unadulterated free exchange of ideas. So how do we elevate ideas above identity? A good start would be removing political messages from classrooms. Every room should represent an unbiased space where everyone’s opinions are equally valuable. Can that happen when only one opinion is represented? Short answer: No.
The Phillips Exeter Academy website states:
“Unite goodness and knowledge and inspire youth from every quarter to lead purposeful lives.” (PEA mission since 2020)
Do we mean all knowledge, or just what’s accepted by the majority? If we truly want equality of ideas, we need to live up to the mission statement and show the student body that no idea has more inherent value than another.
My second idea is to create a new political club where all ideas are represented. I have attended both the Republican and Democratic clubs and there are times when it becomes a group of 10 or so people all agreeing with no productive dialogue. This often occurs since a conservative at the Democratic Club or a liberal at the Republican Club doesn’t feel as if their ideas would be accepted. The new club would have no learning and all ideas would be encouraged. The kind of tribal thinking becoming increasingly more prominent in the United States is a poison in our society, and we have to fight to keep that from happening at Exeter.
I believe that the main reason people don’t speak up is that they don’t believe their ideas are valued. This could be due to being in the minority or an environment that is seemingly against them, which has been created by a constant stream of certain ideas with no dialogue. There is a clear bias in our classrooms against certain ideological groups, and that simply cannot be allowed to exist during a Harkness discussion. The environment shouldn’t lean politically left just as much as it shouldn’t lean right. If we know this problem is being caused, why do we have political slogans anywhere at Exeter?
