On Campus
Fall 2002

Michael Gary Named Director of Admissions

Michael Gary assumed the position of the Academy's director of admissions in July. He is the former director of admissions and financial aid at the Peddie School, in Hightstown, NJ.

"I am very pleased to welcome Michael to the Exeter community," says Exeter Principal Ty Tingley. "His rich background in admissions and in the independent school world will be key to our goal of expanding the pool of students who learn about the Academy. I know he shares Phillips Exeter Academy's commitment, as our 221-year-old deed of gift directs us, to find and educate 'youth from every quarter.' "

Of his work at the Academy, Gary says, "I look forward to continuing to meet and attract talented students to the Academy. In order to remain successful in doing that, our office will continue to work closely with alumni/ae, who are the real ambassadors of an Exeter education.

"Today, when more parents than ever are looking for an educational experience for their child that is both proven and life changing, it is most gratifying to know that I represent an institution that will provide that kind of education and that I will have the privilege of talking about Exeter with many of those parents."

During his six-year tenure at the Peddie School-a coeducational boarding and day school with 500 students in grades 8 to 12-Gary oversaw an increase in the number of applications and the enrollment of a greater array of talented students. He also taught economics. Previously, he was employed at the Pomfret School, in Pomfret, CT, as associate director of admissions and director of multicultural affairs. At Pomfret he also taught economics and coached varsity golf and basketball.

Gary is no stranger to the Academy. For three summers he coached in the Academy's Basketball School, and during that time served as a dorm faculty member in Webster and McConnell Halls. He also coached an AAU basketball team in Trenton, NJ, and served on the deacon board of the Kendall Park Baptist Church.

Gary has a master's degree in education from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from Trinity College. A native of New Haven, CT, Gary is a graduate of the U.S. Grant Foundation, an enrichment program at Yale University for youth from New Haven's inner-city, and the Pomfret School. He is also a proud alumnus of A Better Chance (ABC), an organization that matches inner-city students with independent high schools.

"I thoroughly enjoy admissions work and count it an honor to be able to do what I love at one of the finest private secondary schools in the country," says Gary.

Four Professorships Awarded

This fall, four faculty members began serving new professorships. Spanish instructor James E. Samiljan, a member of the PEA faculty since 1967, was awarded the Robert W. Kessler '47 (Hon.) Teaching Chair in Modern Languages. Samiljan earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College and his M.A. from Stanford. Among other honors, he has received the George S. Heyer Jr. '48 Award. The Reverend Jamie L. Hamilton, chair of the religion department and, during the 2002-03 school year, co-leader of the school's ministry, is the new Bicentennial Instructor. Hamilton received her B.A. from Central Washington University and her M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary. She joined the Exeter faculty in 1995, and received the Dormitory Adviser Award in 1998.  

James E. Samiljan	Jamie L. Hamilton
Ellen M. Wolff	William Jordan

The Ellis Instructorships-which recognize "promising, just-tenured teachers who have already made substantial contributions to a department and the life and spirit of the community"-were awarded to William Jordan, a member of the history department since 1997, and Ellen M. Wolff, a member of the English department since 1995. The Harlan M. Ellis Instructor, Jordan earned his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire. He serves as faculty adviser to The Exonian. In 2000 he published his first book, Black Newspapers and America's War for Democracy, 1914-1920. Wolff, the Eleanor Gwin Ellis Instructor, serves as chair of the curriculum review committee. She earned her B.A. from Colgate University, her M.A. from the University of North Carolina and her Ph.D. from Brandeis University.

Correction: In the summer issue, Nita G. Pettigrew, the Woodbridge Odlin Professor of English and chair of the Academy's English department, was mistakenly described as a past chair of the humanities department at Deerfield Academy. In fact, Pettigrew was awarded the Deerfield Chair in the Humanities during her six-year tenure at the school.

Honors, at Home and Abroad

For the second time in his career, math instructor Zuming Feng has received the Edyth May Sliffe Award for Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching. The award is given annually to just 20 math instructors from all over the country, and honors teachers whose students have scored exceptionally well on the American High School Mathematics Examination.

In July, math instructor Zuming Feng (back row, left) helped coach the U.S. team (including PEA student Tiankai Liu '04, front row, left) to a third-place finish in the International Mathematics Olympiad, held in Glasgow.

In September, art instructor Barbara Rita Jenny '84 traveled to Vienna, where her large digital-print installations were featured in a show honoring American artists.

Art instructor Barbara Rita Jenny '84-whose arresting digital-photo installations of human skin will be on view at the Academy's Lamont Gallery from November 2 to December 11-won the New York Independent Art Fair's National Emerging Artist Competition. As part of this award, Jenny's work was featured in the art fair's September exhibition at Vienna's Art Cult Center at the Tabakmuseum.

Last spring, coach Eric Bergofsky notched his 215th victory for the boys varsity lacrosse team.

Last spring, Eric Bergofsky notched his 215th victory for the boys varsity lacrosse team, a major milestone in his 24 years as head coach and a stat sure to sit in the Academy record books for a good long while. "I can easily recall some of the most exciting victories from more than 20 years ago as if they took place yesterday," reflects Bergofsky. "The thrill of a great victory over Andover and the smiles on my players' faces after a job well done is something that will stay with me forever."

Bergofsky-who is also a math instructor and the founding director of the Exeter Math Institute, a professional development program he started over a decade ago that travels each summer to underprivileged school districts across the country-has coached 18 high school All-American lax players during his tenure. He has been named the Eastern New England Coach of the Year on several occasions and coached both the Eastern New England Senior All-Star Game and the North-South All-Star Game.

ACCESS EXETER students spent their first two days doing team-building exercises at a local ropes course and hiking Mount Monadnock.

Ask Doug Rogers about the recently completed inaugural session of ACCESS EXETER, the Academy's new summer school program for students rising into the eighth and ninth grades, and he breaks into a smile. "The students were so fresh and eager, it was a pleasure to have them on campus," he says. "I feel the pride of parenthood about this program."

And no wonder. Rogers, who is director of the Exeter Summer School as well as the Cowles Professor in the Humanities, was among a group of PEA faculty members who first proposed an accelerated summer program geared specifically toward middle school students. The fundamental goal, he explains, was "to expand our educational mission and give younger students access to our extraordinary resources," while introducing them to the benefits of private school education in general, and PEA in particular.

In all, 115 students, both boarders and day students, took part in the five-week program, which was held at the same time as the Academy's regular summer school program, now in its 83rd year. Originally, says Rogers, the plan was to make ACCESS EXETER a "mini-model" of the older program, but the more he and his colleagues-including Peter Greer, Nita Pettigrew, Sarah Ream, Jack Herney, Joannie Zia, Evelyn Christoph, Pam Parris and Mark Hiza-talked, "the clearer it became we wanted to do something special." That something special turned out to be a novel academic cluster curriculum that "touches on different aspects of what we consider important in education," he says, "while taking advantage of our faculty's strengths, our academic facilities and our New England location."

Students were divided into four academic clusters, including "A Global Community," which offered courses in world literature, global ethics and language instruction (including Spanish with PEA instructor Jim Samiljan, seated at rear).

ACCESS Exonians enrolled in "The Land and the Sea," for example, not only studied literature and the land around the Harkness table and marine biology in Phelps Science Center, they also took field trips to the N.H. seacoast. In addition to language instruction, "A Global Community" offered studentscourses in world literature and global ethics. In "Problem-Solving: An Odyssey of the Mind," students took courses in math, physics and computer science, while students in "America and World War II" considered the history, literature and drama inspired by the war period. Students also took part in sports and other extracurricular activities, including weekend excursions to such destinations as New York City and Quebec.

In addition to studying the history and literature of the era, students in the "America and World War II" cluster presented scenes from Catch-22 and Biloxi Blues.

The response, both from students and from ACCESS EXETER's 19 instructors and teaching interns, was very encouraging, says Rogers, who is already making plans to add a fifth academic cluster, "The Creative Arts," to the 2003 session (to be held July 6 through August 9). "We think the students left here having learned something about collaborative discussion, about independent thought and exploration," he says. "We hope they've begun to glimpse the horizons that stretch before them."

For more information about ACCESS EXETER, go to the summer school website.

The Cigarroa family of southern Texas should get a volume discount to the Exeter Summer School. Over 20 members of the Cigarroa clan, spread over two generations, have attended the program, starting with Patricia back in 1973, and there is no end in sight. Cousins Cristina and Joaquin Cigarroa were the latest to make the pilgrimage this past summer.

Since 1973, more than 20 members of the Cigarroa family have traveled from southern Texas to attend the Exeter Summer School, including, this past summer, cousins Cristina and Joaquin Cigarroa.

"Before I left, my dad told me that his summer at Exeter was one of the most memorable he ever had and that it opened many doors for him," says 15-year-old Cristina. Her father, Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, now a prominent pediatric and transplant surgeon and president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, came to Exeter in the summer of 1975; he was one of 10 Cigarroa children to attend during the '70s and '80s (some for multiple years), along with another 10 cousins.

"Five weeks in the summer may not seem like a very long time, but it has made such a big difference in each and every one of their lives," enthuses Barbara Cigarroa, mother to Francisco and grandmother to Cristina, on what the Exeter Summer School tradition has meant to her family. "I can't emphasize enough how much Exeter opened up their eyes."

The art world was abuzz this past summer with MoMA's move to Queens. As part of a major renovation and expansion project, the Museum of Modern Art moved its world-renowned collection of modern and contemporary art from midtown Manhattan to a former factory building in Queens. Part storage area and part exhibition space, this new temporary home gives the public access to a sampling of the permanent collection and a rotating series of small curated shows-just enough to stem viewers' appetites until the grand reopening of the 53rd Street location in late 2004 or early 2005. This bold move has been met with unanimous applause from all corners of the art world, making MoMA QNS an exciting new destination point in New York.

Among those applauding is one of MoMA's key movers, Peter Galassi '68, P'03, chief curator in the museum's well-regarded department of photography. "Moving out to Queens and addressing a whole new audience is a good thing for the museum because it's shaking up some of our old habits," says Galassi. "It's making us dream about new things we might do and new relationships we might have with our public."

In a conversation by phone from New York this summer, prior to moving the photography collection to Queens, Galassi is clearly energized by the transformation MoMA is undergoing. "One of the big changes in museums over the last 30 to 40 years-because the demographics of the country are changing-is that now more people go to museums than go to sporting events," he says. "Museums have to pay attention to these people in a new kind of way. It's no longer just established art lovers who studied art history in college who are coming to MoMA-it's everybody."

An influential scholar and curator who resides in Brooklyn with his wife, Genevieve, and their daughter Kate, a current senior, Galassi has organized over 30 exhibitions for MoMA and written extensively on the subject of photography for books and catalogues. On October 17, he will share his considerable expertise during a Parents' Weekend lecture about the exhibition Edward Weston: Life Work on view in PEA's Lamont Gallery through October 23.

"I got interested in photography in the '60s and early '70s when, aside from photographers themselves, there were maybe two dozen people in the country who were seriously interested in the medium," says Galassi. "But from World War I on, photography, on both sides of the Atlantic, had one great artist after another-the world just hadn't realized that it was an art form yet. After all, photography has all kinds of practical functions-driver's license pictures and so forth. Weston basically never made a living from his photography, and he was one of the great artists of the 20th century."

Photography, of course, has since been embraced by the art world establishment and is now collected and exhibited in much the same manner as painting and sculpture. Timing has been such that Galassi caught the photography wave early and has ridden it through each new technological development-be it the introduction of color processing or the invention of the digital camera.

It was at Exeter that Galassi first learned to make photographs, using a small darkroom located in the former Thompson Science Building. Both he and his brother Jonathan '67 attended the Academy, and while he says he is far from being a "rah-rah" alumnus, Galassi is grateful for the educational foundation it provided. "I tend to think of myself as having been asleep the whole time I was at Exeter," he says. "Not literally. I worked hard and did what I thought I was supposed to do. I just didn't have much awareness of myself or the world." He claims his most lasting memories are of playing sock hockey in the halls of Wentworth, heated games of stickball and hanging out in the butt room. "It wasn't until much later in life that I realized I had learned more at Exeter than anywhere else."

By the time Galassi hit Harvard, though, from which he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in studio art in 1972, life went from black and white to Technicolor. "At Harvard, I discovered life," says Galassi. Like many students coming of age in the '60s, Galassi became involved in antiwar protests, civil rights actions and various rallies intended to "loosen up big, paternalistic institutions like Harvard," he says.

After graduation and a year doing production for a start-up, lefty newspaper in Richmond, VA, Galassi landed a curatorial internship in the department of photography at MoMA in 1974. From that experience, he learned two things: that he loved photography and he needed to strengthen his grasp on art history. He entered graduate school at Columbia University that fall and went on to earn both an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history. In 1981, he rejoined the photography department of MoMA as an associate curator and worked his way up through the ranks to chief curator in 1991.

"I love the pictures," says Galassi of his job and passion. "That's where it all begins for me. Working in a museum, you have direct contact with original objects all the time. In a museum like MoMA, where a lot of our programming is contemporary, you also have contact with artists. That's fabulous. You have real relationships with the people who are making the stuff."

Over the years, Galassi has worked with many significant artists-both iconic and unknown. Among the highlights he counts French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, who became a friend while putting together a book and exhibition in 1987, and more recently, contemporary German photographer Andreas Gursky, who is currently pushing the medium into uncharted territory and was the subject of an exhibition and book in 2001.

In the art world, change comes with the territory, and living amid this constant state of evolution-be it the move to Queens, the digital revolution or the great unknown around the next corner-seems to suit Galassi well.

	"We gather here today to affirm that love is stronger than death": The entire Academy community joined together in Love Gymnasium in remembrance of the events of September 11.

September 11, 2002, was a day of many mixed emotions at Phillips Exeter Academy. The official opening of school assembly started the morning, and the campus was alive with the excitement and anticipation of a new school year. But it was also a day tempered by remembrance, as the tragic events of one year prior weighed heavily upon all.

In a gathering similar to one held soon after September 11 of last year, the entire Academy community came together again for a stirring, sometimes-tearful memorial service in the Love Gymnasium. Led by the Reverend Jamie Hamilton, chair of the religion department and co-leader of the school ministry, the program included remarks and prayers by students, faculty and staff, and music by the Concert Choir, music department chair Peter Schultz and music instructor Stephanie Curcio. The service also offered an opportunity to honor the memories of alumni Michael B. Packer '73, Scott H. Saber '82 and Eric R. Thorpe '85, who were lost in the collapse of the World Trade Center.

"And so we gather again, to remember those who died, those who gave their lives to save others and those who grieve," said Hamilton. "But we also gather to claim that through the power of community we believe that the acts of living that support the death wish will never have the final word over acts that support life, community, hope and love."

Other speakers included the Reverend Dr. Gideon Khabela, religion instructor and co-leader of the school ministry, who read a Zulu prayer; Elisa Robinson of the alumni/ae affairs and development office, who spoke of her struggle to find an appropriate response to September 11; Olga deGrasse, modern language teacher and a New Yorker for whom the events of 9/11 "literally hit home"; and students Nicholas Moore '03, who reflected on what it was like being an American studying in Spain during the events of last year; Tamer Shabaneh '03 and Michelle Ramadan '06, who read from the Koran; and Jacob Sendowski '03, who read the Kaddish. The benediction was "Lux Aeterna" ("Rest in Peace"), composed by Edwin Fissinger and sung by the PEA Concert Choir with a solo by soprano Joanne Shea '03.

Joining Principal Ty Tingley (right) at this year's opening assembly were the Academy's two emeriti principals, Stephen Kurtz (1974-1987) and Kendra Stearns O'Donnell (1987-1997), as well as Kathy Saltonstall Moore, widow of the late principal William Saltonstall (1946-1963).

When it reopens at the end of this year, Phillips Church will have a new stained-glass window as well as new roofing and floors.

Major renovation and construction projects created several hard-hat zones on campus this past summer: two landmark buildings and one dormitory were renovated, four new faculty homes constructed and the second phase of a landscaping master plan was implemented. The Academy also completed myriad maintenance projects that are essential to the general upkeep of the Academy's buildings and grounds. Despite the work, which "sets a new record for accomplishment," says Don Briselden, director of facilities management, it was business as usual. The Academy was busy from June to August, hosting well-attended conferences and workshops, summer school and sports schools.

Overseeing the church's renovation are clerk of the works Guy Conrad (left) and project manager Roger Wakeman.

After years of discussion and planning, renovation work began on two of the Academy's most identifiable buildings-103-year-old Phillips Church and the Louis Kahn-designed Class of 1945 Library. The six-month, $3.45 million renovation of Phillips Church, the "stately Gothic edifice of granite" acquired by the Academy in 1922, included a complete overhaul-the demolition and replacement of floors, walls and roofing throughout many areas. New stone flooring will replace the original wood, while a vivid, stained-glass window will be installed over the main door. A new organ will provide Exeter's primary concert venue with an instrument of professional quality.

Although it has been under wraps during an extensive waterproofing project, the Academy Library remains very much open for business.

While church services and concerts are being moved temporarily to Grainger and Powell halls until Phillips Church is completed in December, the library is and has been open throughout its repair work. The first phase of the $4.5 million restoration work-weatherproofing on the roof and the south and east faces of the building-took place between April and August. A second repair phase that focuses on the west and north faces and ground-level terrace area will be completed by December. "The goals of the restoration project are twofold: to make the library waterproof and to do so in such a way that the work will be seamless and not visible. This work," says Briselden, "is all about saving the Kahn library."

Amen Hall was renovated top to bottom.

The Academy also undertook a $4 million renovation of Amen Hall, basing its design on the experiences gathered during the renovation of Cilley Hall two years ago.

Interior improvements included the addition of common-room space, relocation of the three faculty apartments, inclusion of student laundry rooms and reduction of the number of student rooms to the desired student/faculty ratio of 10 to 1. The dorm was ready for occupancy when students arrived back on campus.

Four brand-new faculty homes were built just east of the Academy tennis courts.

Faculty moves are part of the Academy summer routine. They took on special significance this year, when four families moved into new four-bedroom houses constructed on a fully developed and landscaped site east of the tennis courts. The homes were ready for occupancy on August 17, approximately one year after the program need for the housing was identified-thanks to the extraordinary generosity of an anonymous donor.

As part of the landscape master plan, the facilities management department reduced asphalt, relocated parking areas and increased lighting.

This fall, visitors to campus are also viewing major work of another kind-the first completed stages of the landscape master plan. Over the next year and a half, well-defined parking courts, like the ones already installed around Abbot Circle, will be developed in locations across campus. Quadrangles and lawns will be renewed, lighting improved to make more pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods, and trees will be planted with the goal of restoring the campus tree canopy.

Finally, as part of the Academy's commitment to universal access, an elevator was installed in the Academy Building, making the Assembly Hall fully accessible to those with disabilities. An ongoing refurbishment of the building's interiors got underway with the installation of new tile floors in the basement and first floor, and significant cleaning of marble stairways.

"We are tremendously impressed with the quality of facility management's accomplishments," says the Academy's treasurer, Jef Fellows '62. "Hard work and expertise underlie their success, just as they do a class well taught."

Beim

David O. Beim '58 lives in Riverdale, NY, and teaches at Columbia University Business School, following a successful 25-year career in investment banking. Professor Beim serves as coordinator for the business ethics theme in the school's curriculum and is an adviser to the Integrity Board. He received the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence in 1995. Previously he worked for 10 years in corporate finance at First Boston and for two years as executive vice president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. He has also been head of investment banking at Bankers Trust Company and a partner at Dillon Read. Beim co-authored Emerging Financial Markets, published by McGraw-Hill in 2000.

He served for five years as chairman of the board of Outward Bound USA, and participated in the development of Expeditionary Learning, Outward Bound's educational reform program, which has been adopted by about 120 public schools across America. He has served since 1990 as chairman of the board of Wave Hill, a New York City public garden and cultural institution.

Beim holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.Phil. from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have two children, Amy and Nicholas. His niece Margaret K. Conover is a member of the class of 1984.

Du Pont

Jenny Young du Pont '78 is an attorney who lives in Dover, MA. She has served as the president of her class since 1998 and has been elected as a director of the General Alumni/ae Association, where she serves on the Student Relations Advisory Committee. She has served as a member of her Regional Associations in Washington and London, as a Reunion Committee general gift chair and Reunion Committee gift chair.

She was from 1998 until July of this year in-house counsel in the legal department of Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation, one of the largest writers of auto insurance in Massachusetts. In that capacity, du Pont represented Plymouth Rock and its numerous insurance and investment affiliates in corporate, real estate, employment, regulatory and insurance matters. Du Pont began her legal career in 1988 at Covington & Burling in its Washington, D.C. office, practicing international and banking law. She moved to Covington's London office in 1989 and expanded her practice to include European Community matters. Du Pont left Covington to join Sidley, Austin, Brown, & Wood in 1992, working primarily in its London office on banking and international matters. She returned to the United States in 1997.

Du Pont is a former board member of the American Friends of the British Museum, and is a current board member of the Conservation Law Foundation.

She holds a B.A. degree from Princeton University, an M.S.F.S. from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

She and her husband, Pierre S. du Pont V, have four children: Grace, Pierre VI, Nicholas and Phebe. Her PEA family includes father-in-law Pierre S. du Pont IV '52, brother-in-law Preston F. Zoller '67 and grandfather-in-law Pierre S. du Pont III '30 (dec.)

Freudenberger

Daniel N. Freudenberger '63 lives in Los Angeles, CA, and has served as class president since 1998 and as general gift chair for his 35th Reunion. He was elected a director of the General Alumni/ae Association in 1998 and has been chair and secretary of the Fund-Raising Advisory Committee. He is also the co-chair of the 1781 Committee and was appointed director for the Annual Giving Advisory Committee. Freudenberger received the President's Award in 1998.

He is a writer of TV movies and series, including "Spenser: For Hire" and "Cagney and Lacey." Freudenberger was nominated for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for his ABC miniseries, Stay the Night. He has served as artistic director of the nonprofit Phoenix Theatre in New York (1975-80) and directed productions for public television and National Public Radio.

He is currently chair of the Neurobiology Advisory Council at Harvard Medical School and sits on the HMS Board of Fellows. He has also served as president of the board of Parents Anonymous of California and as president of the board of trustees at Marlborough School in Los Angeles.

Ho

Freudenberger received his B.A. in English from Harvard and was a Henry Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford. He has two children, Nell and Emma. Emma is a member of PEA's class of 1997.

Robert A. Ho '73 lives in Hong Kong. He has been a member of the Academy Resource Committee and served as an admissions representative. He was Regional Association president from 1992 to 1994.

Ho is president of Fairmont Shipping Ltd. He is also cofounder of Magsaysay of the Philippines. These affiliated companies and their subsidiaries own and manage ships and are involved in chartering for dry cargo and oil products on a worldwide basis.

Ho is vice chairman of the London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Limited and deputy chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association Limited.

He graduated from Harvard University and is active with Harvard study abroad issues. Ho and his wife, Georgina, have three children: Nicola, Ina Maria and R. Ian.

Alums who return to campus usually begin their visit at the historic Nathaniel Gilman House. Built in 1735, it is the oldest building on the campus and was home to generations of Exeter families, served as a dormitory and is now headquarters of Alumni/ae Affairs and Development.

Here, handshakes and hugs reunite classmates and teammates, teachers and students, and humans and ghosts. You heard right-at least according to reports of those who have had their hands firmly grasped by the ghostly hand of Gilman House.

An early experience was reported by Jacquelyn Thomas, James H. Ottaway Jr. '55 Professor and Academy Librarian. Exonians of the mid-1960s may also remember that she and her husband, classics instructor emeritus David Thomas, were dorm faculty in Gilman House, then home to 15 boys.

The Thomases were asleep one night when Jackie awoke to feel a cold hand clutching hers. "I couldn't get loose," she recalls. "It just wouldn't let go." This, combined with a few other strange incidents has convinced Thomas that she was "living in the midst of something."

There was the night of a vicious ice storm when she heard footsteps roaming the downstairs and descending to the basement. Thinking it was David inspecting the furnace, she went to check on her children in their room. There she saw her husband asleep with one of the kids. A thorough search by the Exeter Police found no one in the house.

The March 1906 issue of The Bulletin of Phillips Exeter Academy reported on the trustees acquisition of Gilman House and bid the boys who would live there to "turn at times to catch the faint footsteps of departed Gilmans." Was this what the editors had in mind?

A former upstairs bedroom is now the office of Wayne Loosigian '41, '51 (Hon.), P'99, '01, '05, director of annual giving. If Loosigian has work to finish up in the evening, he brings it home. No more late nights in Gilman House for him. Not after a series of skirmishes with light switches that flip off and on, a copier that did the same and finding papers from his desk strewn over the floor. "There was something else there," he reports. "It actually made the hair on my neck stand up."

Custodian Lynda Young knows there is something else there. She saw it. Cleaning the building at night during the mid-1990s, she had several hair-raising encounters. Most memorable was the sight of "a man in military garb, who reminded me of pictures you see of Confederate soldiers. He stood in front of me for a moment then glided away," she relates. Young also recalls hearing footsteps on the second floor while working alone at night and smelling coffee brewing in an empty kitchen. She too was subject to the ghostly handshake. Hers came as she reached around the corner to turn the light on in a deserted Gillespie Room, "I felt a cold hand grip mine. I left the building and didn't go back," she says.

During renovations this spring, an electrical contractor put his hand inside a wall and received the cold grasp of the Gilman hand. This renewed activity has come as the building is being reconfigured: A new entryway has been added from the back parking lot and the building is now more accessible for the handicapped. The Alumni/ae Affairs and Development staff invite alums and friends to visit the new space in Gilman House. If they dare.

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Editor's note: In researching this story several other campus ghosts have "come to light." If you have a PEA ghost story, send it to us at bulletin@exeter.edu. Or write us at The Exeter Bulletin, Phillips Exeter Academy, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833.

Exoniana: Do You Remember?

Can you identify this mystery photo? Any memories that you care to share are always welcome. The first person who sends (via U.S. mail only) the correct answer will win a prize. Answers and reminiscences will be published in the next issue. Mail to Exoniana, c/o The Exeter Bulletin, Phillips Exeter Academy, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833.

Answer to the Last Issue: OK, so it's not your mother's home cooking. Not one savory response identified the three tasty Grill specialties pictured in our summer issue: burnt, toasted English muffins smothered with raspberry jam that are known as the "garbo razz"; the fried "peanut butter between" sandwiches, with or without mayo; and the infamous egg on a muffin known at PEA as the "hobo sandwich."

As part of its 50th reunion festivities, the class of '52-including (above) Tim Cogan, left, and Stewart Lindsay-honored the late Bruce Dennen '52 with the dedication of Dennen House (at rear). Bruce Dennen's children (right), Ivey and Scott '92, toured Dennen House, now home to two faculty families.

In our summer issue, we mistakenly referred to the late Bruce Dennen '52 as Bill Dennen. The phone began to ring immediately and often for the next few weeks, as Bruce's friends from near and far called to correct the error. What was clear from each of the calls was the high regard in which Bruce was held by his friends, whether they had known him as a student (along with his twin brother, Bob), as a trustee or as a PEA parent. As Brian Davis, the former president of the class, observed at the time of Bruce's passing in December 2000, "Bruce exemplified the best qualities of mankind and was a credit to Exeter and his classmates every day, in all ways."

As part of their 50th reunion, many of those classmates were on hand last May to take part in the dedication, in Bruce's honor, of Dennen House. Located on the corner on Front and Elliot streets, Dennen House is a three-story Federalist-style home built in 1828. Since being acquired by the Academy in 2000, it has been extensively renovated and now serves as home to two faculty families.

Getting to Exeter-and Saving a Dime

The cover story in the spring issue of The Exeter Bulletin-"How Failing at Exeter Made a Success of George Plimpton"-started me thinking about my own early days at the Academy.

I came from a Midwest family of five girls and one boy. Our family income was from my father's small-town legal practice in Greencastle, IN. The fees charged by lawyers back then were a contrast to those of today. When he could get the work, Pap charged $5 for a deed, $10 for a will, 10 cents per item for abstracting and maybe $10 a day for trial work.

At age 8, I started carrying newspapers, and eventually was making about $2 a week. During the summers I also worked for about 50 cents a day. I wanted to buy a bicycle for the paper route, but Pap insisted I bank all my newspaper money in a savings account. "It'll do you good to walk," he said. So I walked.

A bit later on, I had a chance to buy a Model T, but Pap said no because I would have to spend money on gas and oil and maintenance. Better to continue saving-and walking. Pap had definite ideas about things like thrift and being careful, and did not easily change his opinion.

Now, getting to Exeter: My public school academic record had been straight A's. I was skipped from the sixth grade to the eighth and had one year of high school. In 1930, when I was 15, I received a scholarship to Exeter. After a placement exam, I was started over as a first-year student.

My father was a local attorney for the New York Central Railroad. He got me a pass to travel to Exeter "on the cushions," which was a term for coach, or the poor man's section-not the private Pullman cars. My mother fixed me up with my travel rations-a brown bag of sandwiches, some apples and a bag of graham crackers-and I was put on the train for Boston. It was a long trip, but I enjoyed every moment of the adventure.

The train stopped at the South Station in Boston, and after disembarking I discovered I had to get to the North Station for the train to Exeter. The cost by trolley was 10 cents. To save that dime, I picked up my suitcase and began walking the distance across the city. That was almost a bad mistake.

About halfway along, in a somewhat derelict section, a bearded old man approached me and tried to start a conversation: Where was I from? Where was I going? He told me if I gave him some money, he would leave me alone. I casually looked around for help, but the street was empty.

So I started running, hauling my suitcase. In those days, I wasn't too bad a runner. Perhaps Pap had been right after all-those years of walking the paper route had kept me accident-free, healthy and in shape. I soon found I had outdistanced the man, and he wasn't about to catch me.

Suffice it to say I caught the train to Exeter-and saved a dime.

Frank Durham '34
Greencastle, IN

Reading Well

My wife, Christina, and I enjoyed very much Susannah Clark's article in the summer Bulletin about Dr. George Vaillant '51 and his book Aging Well ("Aging Well Is the Best Revenge"). The article was well written and informative, and stimulated us to think about our aging together over our 49 years of marriage. We plan to read Dr. Vaillant's book-as well as the one he recommended by Malcolm Cowley.

Dr. W. Scott James Jr. '49
Atlanta, GA

This horse was presented to the Academy Archives among the papers of the late George Bennett, Independence Foundation Professor and instructor in English. The Bennett family is unsure when he received it, from whom or for what reason. Ed Desrochers, the Academy's archivist, seeks any relevant information about who may have given the item to Mr. Bennett and perhaps a story about its significance. Please contact him at edesrochers@exeter.edu or by mail at Phillips Exeter Academy, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833.