Negotiating with Nico

As George Orwell once said, “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” In a sense, three-year senior Nicolas Coleman has done just that. Highly acclaimed for his role as Exeter Confesses’s moderator on Facebook, Coleman has created a forum that allows students to anonymously discuss current events inside and outside of the Exeter bubble. The group is recognized by nearly everyone on campus as a powerful yet dangerous way to express one’s thoughts online. Constantly filled with opinionated controversy, Exeter Confesses has brought awareness to students and faculty alike on what the Exeter community is thinking, even if some conversations are hard to have.

“I didn’t really have an original goal for the page,” Coleman said. “I definitely didn’t see it becoming what it is now, and I hadn’t even thought about any use for it as a political forum or a way for students to public events—I just thought it would be a funny thing.”

Like many students, Coleman was interested in what Exonians were passionate about, especially the opinions that are not voiced as often on campus.

Coleman went on to say, “I was curious to see what would happen, but it was about a week in that I realized what I could do with it.”

“Nicolas is a nonconformist. Exeter needs more people like that.”

With over five thousand submissions, Coleman has created somewhat of a monster, as Exeter Confesses has influenced the school dynamic immensely in terms of students speaking up about their beliefs. Coleman’s work started so much commotion that advisee meetings have been held in response to it. Since day one as moderator, curiosity has driven Coleman’s motivation to keep up with the thousands of submissions.

Though few are aware of this, Coleman admitted that he was the one who started the rumors of Exeter Confesses being shut down. “I got messages from like, 20 people saying how awful that was and how they were going to protest against the administration. I was mostly just curious what would happen, but I wanted people to talk about it. Almost a hundred new people joined the page that day because it was an exciting event and a little bit of a controversy.” However, Coleman confirmed that there is no real threat of the page being shut down anytime soon.

A major reason Coleman applied to Exeter was a lack of interest at his old school. “I didn’t come to Exeter because I thought that I was a genius and I was too smart for my old school, I just wanted something more interesting.” In this regard, Coleman has certainly achieved his goal. Having entertained hundreds of conversations through Exeter Confesses, there is always something to talk about in Grill that was posted on the forum the night before.

However, Coleman’s interests extend far beyond his work with the Facebook page. Coleman is a tennis player and previously played for Exeter’s squash team. Coleman has also expressed his views through his WPEA radio show with seniors Sam Milner and Antonio Guanaes. Not linked to any theme, the show is open to new topics of conversation, an important part of Coleman’s eagerness to keep dialogue interesting.

Mathias Valenta, a postgraduate who got to know Coleman through discussions on Exeter Confesses, describes Coleman as a very intelligent person. “He is also very fair to both sides of every debate. He isn’t afraid of voicing his opinion, but he also posts a lot of more liberal things and is pro-debate,” Valenta said.

Close friend and senior Helena Guenther echoed these sentiments, she said, “Nicolas is an incredibly intelligent individual, but what I admire the most about him is his conviction. He is never willing to compromise his opinions for the sake of others.”

“Nicolas is a nonconformist. Exeter needs more people like that,” she continued. “He inspires me to challenge convention, and in this sense, he has perhaps shaped me more than any other individual at Exeter.”

Senior Chris Lee, fellow resident of Browning Hall, speaks to Coleman’s more eccentric side, remarked, “I saw him wear a cape once and he pulled it off.”

Coleman has also been a very prominent figure in the art department, noting architecture as his favorite class at Exeter. His Art 444 project was inspired by his father’s work at Duke University School of Law with the Innocence project, “a pro bono legal organization that represents inmates who they think are wrongfully convicted or innocent.” For the project he created five portraits of people either formerly in prison or still in prison.

Currently residing in Mark Zuckerberg’s old room in Browning, Coleman has some high expectations as he continues to moderate Exeter’s most popular Facebook group to date. He likes to joke that people living in that room are the leading cause of Exonians wasting their time, but he does advise that “If people are spending a lot of time on the page, they should maybe take a break.”

         Contributions from Emily Pelliccia