Senior of the Week: Phil Horrigan

By Daniel Zhang

At the edge of Route 88 with the cross country team, cut and bruised; in the Latin Study, the Academy building nearly empty on a Friday night; at 1 a.m in Room 16 of Soule Hall, under presidential campaign posters—senior Phil Horrigan finds and builds community wherever he goes, leading with empathy, kindness and sometimes funny jokes. 

Horrigan grew up in Washington, D.C., fitting considering his interest in national politics and current events. Teachers at his middle school encouraged him to apply to Exeter. “I kind of goofed the other high schools I was applying to, because they asked me: what’s your first choice of high school?” Horrigan recalled. “And I said Phillips Exeter instead of their school. But it worked out!”

In his first term at Exeter, Horrigan recalled struggling with his new workload until he discovered “the very fundamental truth that you’re not supposed to do all your homework.” “You don’t need to leave Exeter knowing how to dissect a fetal pig,” Horrigan said. “But you need to leave Exeter knowing how to think about dissecting a fetal pig.”

In his first year, Horrigan quickly found community in all different corners of campus. Soule Hall, where he is now a proctor, became his natural home; after getting his “*ss kicked” by Latin, he joined the Kirtland Society. Late night pillow fights at overnight Model United Nations conferences introduced him to upperclassmen mentors. 

Thomas Wang ’19 met Horrigan at his first MUN conference. “I was like, ‘Oh. Wow. This kid’s kinda weird,’” Wang said. “I mean, he was a prep.” But over the weekend they roomed together, Wang came to know him as “an absolute monster on the dance floor.” Upperclassmen from MUN like Wang, Dhruva Nistane ’19 and Mark Blekherman ’19 became lifelong friends. 

“Besides being a powerful MUN delegate, Phil was always fun to be around in Soule,” Blekherman said. “We even wanted him to be proctor when he was still a rising upper. I was so excited when I heard that he became a proctor in Soule and a co-president of MUN his senior year.”

“They made sure I was okay. There’s this phrase, you know: ‘this is my prep,” Horrigan said. “You hear that a lot here. They took me in—that’s just what a pillow fight does.”

Horrigan also first began distance running in his prep year, joining winter track, and later cross country. “It sucked. I was so slow. I was so slow. I was always the slowest person on the team when we started,” he recalled. “I just got my *ss whipped into shape, which was super fun. It was super rewarding to train with those guys and to feel yourself getting faster.”

Distance running has left Horrigan with a thorough sense of endurance and perseverance. “There’s this word ‘gumption’ that’s really funny that I tossed around today on a run, because a coach said it to me once, and I think that’s what cross country has done for me,” he said. “It’s given me the will to keep going and to not be afraid to understand that in the moment it might suck, but the gratitude later is going to be immense.”

“The thing itself blows,” he said, laughing. “But once you’re over that finish line, you’re like, ‘Holy sh*t.’” 

“Phil’s humor, on good days, makes easy runs a real pleasure,” teammate Varun Oberai said. “His thirst for adventure always takes us through unbeaten trails and sometimes people’s backyards.”

Teammate Tommy Seidel found Horrigan “inspiring” as well. “Phil is a specimen of a human being,” he said. “On warm fall days at cross country practice, staring down his powerful sweaty back and watching the muscles ripple beneath his skin motivates me to run more than anything the actual captains can say or do.”

Seidel praised him for being “one of the few upperclassmen I know that can perfectly balance leadership and humor.” “His competitive spirit pushes everybody on cross country to be their best yet he’s always funny and approachable,” Seidel said. 

“Phil was chided the other day for only talking about politics when we run, and I had to point out that he brings much more to the team than just that.  Besides setting a strong example as a competitor in races, Phil is always the last man standing when the team explores off-trail,” cross country coach Brandon Newbould said. 

“He is undeterred by swamps, ice, thorns and brambles, and frequently returns from training sessions with the greatest blood loss,” Newbould continued, an observation almost universally noted by cross country teammates. Seidel described Horrigan’s cuts as “glorious”; teammate Garret Paik opted for “nasty.”

In the spring of his upper year, Horrigan successfully ran for Student Council (StuCo) co-secretary, a campaign he said started from “anti-authoritarian grumbling, which spiraled into this… thing.” 

However, he now takes great pride in his role. “We’re more or less anti-authoritarian for a good reason, because [the Academy] is not doing enough to dismantle racism on campus that has been constant for 200 plus years,” he said. “I wouldn’t jeopardize being able to work on that by screwing around. I don’t think StuCo is the best instrument for change, but if it can make any change at all, then it’s worth not destroying right now. ” 

“I have so much respect for him for what he did with StuCo,” Wang said. “The thing about Phil is that he brings heart to everything that he does. He’s one of very, very few people who can really say f*ck the system, I’m going to do what I want because I think it’s important.”

Beyond just student politics, Horrigan is an attentive and observant follower of current events, frequently tuning into podcasts like “Pod Save America” and “The Axe Files.” Despite describing himself as “a little left of liberal”, Horrigan is a co-head of the Republican Club. “It’s just much, much more exciting than Dem Club. Oh my god, Dem Club is just quoting the New York times left and right. It’s so freaking boring,” he said (he conceded that Democratic Club does more “actual” campaign work than Republican Club). “But I’m constantly challenged at Republican Club on what I think. And that helps me solidify what I think.”

Now a leader in the same communities that welcomed him as a prep, Horrigan works to foster camaraderie and compassion within his clubs. “I spent a lot of the summer trying to figure out how to build communities,” he said. Horrigan has identified three key methods:

“I’ve done a lot of thinking about this, and it is communal suffering that brings people together,” he said, pointing to the close bonds between Kirtland members (“Who suffers more than classics kids and their GPAs?”). “I don’t want to have people suffering. That’s sh*tty. But at the same time, if I don’t submit them to grueling conditions, how do I create bonds with them?”

The second, Horrigan claimed, was the “cult figure.” “That’s what you’ve got going to some extent with Soule Hall with Mr. Sain,” he said. “Although there’s some communal suffering to be said about the facilities. And then cross country is the strongest community on campus because it’s both, we have a cult figure in our coach and we have communal suffering— we run for a sport.”

Horrigan concluded with the third—achievement. “If you can somehow keep them on a high of accomplishment, you can create a victory community. The problem is that’s really hard to do.” He paused. “Don’t say Mock Trial.” 

As a leader, Horrigan is known for going out of his way to help younger students learn. “My favorite memory of Phil was last spring when he encouraged me to join a MUN conference, now one of my favorite events on campus,” lower Holden Quaresma said. “Phil quickly taught me and I had a great time; when I needed accommodations, Phil made them for me without second guessing. He answered all of my questions and gave me extra advice. Phil is one of the most supportive people I have met on campus—he is a great leader and co-head who helped me find some new activities I enjoy. He helped me when he had no reason to, and is one of the funniest people I have met thus far.”

Lower Matt Dame was also encouraged by Horrigan to find different communities on campus. “Simply put, Phil Horrigan cares tremendously about those around him. He will help you when you need it, and he will push you when you need it,” Dame said. “As a prep last year with absolutely no connections, Phil happily introduced me to people in Soule and went out of his way to get me involved in ESSO, Student Council, and numerous other clubs on campus. It is clear that Phil truly wants all those around him to succeed and will gladly do everything he can to make your life better.”

Fellow MUN co-head Stephen McNulty praised Horrigan’s ability to make dense, information-heavy meetings into lighthearted ones. “Phil has this crazy way of diffusing stuffy, formal meetings into laid back conversation,” he said. “It’s fun to watch, because usually our board meetings will end up in some three hour discussion on Phil’s latest tea from the paths or a dissertation on the origins of the Golden Branch. It’s the exact right combination of ‘chill’ and crazy enthusiasm, and I think I speak for the entire MUN Board when I say we love it.”

Friends noted that Horrigan habitually puts others before himself. “Phil is always happy to stop and talk if a friend needs him or pick up the phone even if it means sacrificing his own sleep,” Oberai said. “Also, the guy just does not sleep.” 

Looking toward the future, Horrigan hopes to see the communities he’s built “be continued by someone”, see the student body “come together more than it has in the past” and to call Principal William Rawson “Bill” at least once. “I mean he reads every Exonian,” he considered.

In his four years on campus, Horrigan has found a home, and now works tirelessly to give back to the communities that have defined his time here. To students beginning the same journey he started four years ago, he leaves behind a few pieces of advice. “Do a lot of exploring until you find something you could be passionate about,” he said. “Go to upperclassmen’s rooms, even if they don’t want you to— eventually they’ll get used to it and let you stick around.”

“And—call your dorm home. There’s a difference between when you say, ‘Let’s go back to Soule’ and when you say, ‘Let’s go back home.’”