Tan out of Ten

Senior Tan Nazer tiptoes into Merrill Hall’s common room with a brown grocery bag. She carefully places it on the room’s only table with a post-it note next to it and exits uncaught. Her mission is complete: six sugar cookies from St. Anthony’s Bakery now await to be discovered by six of her clueless, innocent dorm-mates.

Such a secretive act is routine for Nazer. She has a fondness for surprising her peers with packages, sometimes in the form of sugar cookies from St. Anthony’s, sometimes in the form of her dorm-mates’ favorite candy bars.

A proctor in Merrill, bettering the lives of her peers and friends has always been a constant element for Nazer and her dorm has been a consistent recipient of her selflessness and kindness.

“She’s always so kind and hilarious, even when she’s stressed and has a thousand things to do,” senior Margaux Morris, a dorm-mate and close friend of Nazer, said.

Nazer’s fondness of enriching the lives of others extends beyond the walls of Merrill Hall. For example, an avid swimmer since a young age, Nazer has been a part of ESSO Swimming, a student-run group that teaches children around in the Exeter area how to swim.

All clubs and organizations Nazer is part of share the same theme: they allow Nazer to help and give. Since her first year, she has been a member of the Academy’s Student Council (StuCo), in which she served as a dorm representative for a year. She is currently the head of Elections Committee and organizes and oversees all elections.

“I joined StuCo when I first got here, not only because I wanted to be aware of what was going on in the school community, but also because—and perhaps more importantly—I wanted to give back to my peers through the organization.”

Along with her selflessness, another quality that defines Nazer is her courage. An avid social activist, Nazer’s presence is recognized by many both on and off campus.

“Tan is fearless. She’s a fighter. And after spending two and a half months with her in Grenoble, I got to see firsthand how hard of a worker she is. She’s not afraid to speak up when she sees injustice in the world,” senior Sean Taylor said.

One organization that has witnessed Nazer’s intrepid fervor is “Baraka,” a club she and Zoha Qamar ’15  created last year. Baraka, according to Nazer, aims to provide a repository for discourse between any Academy community members who want to talk about Islam or being a Muslim on campus and the country.

“When I initially came to Exeter, the only place where I could practice my religion was MSA and I was looking for a more discussion-based environment in which I could delve into issues like culture, religion, feminism and how all of them are closely intertwined,” Nazer said. “I wanted to be able to provide an insider’s perspective on what it’s like to be a Muslim on campus.”

Qamar noted that she and Nazer wished to “address issues we faced with religion both far beyond and precisely within Exeter, [after] the steep rise in the extra relevance of Islam and Muslims in both national and global contexts—be it political, social, or some intertwined combination.”

Qamar added, “Over the course of year, I saw Tan grow from a friend scared of how we would stand up to current leadership when creating a club like Baraka, to a campus leader who fearlessly tackled anything, from specific incidents to pervasive culture.”

Nazer also recently joined Exeter’s Feminist Union, after spending a term abroad in Grenoble, France.

“I personally do a lot of work for advocating Arab and Muslim women in my community in order to make them feel safe and be able to express themselves,” Nazer said. “So I joined Fem Club in order to continue similar work on campus and to enhance my work back home.”

Outside of campus, Nazer has been working on creating an organization called “Voices from the Middle East” that aims to provide a space like Baraka specifically for Muslim and Arab women.

“[Voices from the Middle East] is a mix between a literary magazine and a space in which Arab and Muslim women can express themselves through art, music and poetry—a space that traditionally doesn’t exist in the Middle East. It’s in the making currently, but it will be launched this year,” Nazer said.

While Nazer’s work as a champion of women, Muslims and her peers has been helpful for countless individuals both on and off campus, above all, Nazer is most appreciated for the spontaneous and humorous friend she is to those around her.

“When we were in Paris, we left a really long tour at the Louvre and went to the the Champs-Elysées where we saw a bike taxi, and we just got on totally spur of the moment,” senior Megan Smith said. “Tan is simply amazing.”

Morris said that she wouldn’t have survived the bleak days at Exeter without Nazer’s adventurous weekend ideas or the unwanted, long nights without Nazer’s tea, which Nazer often brewed for her at 2 a.m.

“Whether it’s running to get signatures for last minute [Out Of Towns] for a spontaneous trip to Boston or just sitting in my room and drinking tea during a 2a.m. study break, she never fails to make every situation fun.”

Qamar emphasized Nazer’s integrity and her capacity to empathize. “Tan’s loyalty is unwavering, and her intellectual and personal perspectives of the world are unapologetically unique. She uses her compassion to connect with those different from her to help spread awareness and understanding for her often unheard, though crucial narratives and experiences.”