On Campus
Spring 2003

Dr. Cornell West Delivers MLK Day Keynote Address

Dr. Cornel West, the Class of 1943 University Professor of Religion at Princeton University and author of such groundbreaking books as Race Matters, urged his Exeter audience to examine the "legacy of white supremacy" in contemporary America.

On January 17, as part of the Academy's observance of Martin Luther King Day, Dr. Cornel West conducted a riveting Socratic dialogue-for more than 1,000 pupils.

West's classroom was Love Gymnasium, which was filled not only with students, but also faculty and staff, who turned out to hear the acclaimed author, activist and Class of 1943 University Professor of Religion at Princeton University deliver the day's keynote address, the first in a series of talks and workshops looking at the role of race in America today. West called upon his audience to "interrogate [their] unexamined preconceptions," especially when it comes to the "legacy of white supremacy."

"I hope and pray, in the spirit of Martin Luther King, that something I say today unsettles you, unnerves you, even unhouses you," West said. Most of us, he said, would prefer to think of white supremacy as someone else's problem: " 'I know my uncle has work to do, but I've transcended race. I don't see color; I just see people.' Well, I appreciate that effort," West added, "but when I look deep in my own soul, I see white supremacy in me. I see male supremacy, I see American supremacy, and I've been working on this diligently for 49 years." The question, West said, "isn't who is and who isn't racist, but how do we empower each other to deal with this legacy?" White America got a glimpse of what it means to be a person of color in the wake of September 11, West said, an experience that left many feeling "unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence and hated for who they are"-the daily lot of African Americans for over 400 years. "Since 9/11," he said, "the whole nation has the blues, when before it was just black people."

So what, West asked, is the correct response to terrorism, "to gangsters and thugs who hurt innocent people?" He answered his question with a question: "What was Martin Luther King's response? It was justice, not revenge; reconciliation, not war."

MLK Headliners: Actress Alfre Woodard and Filmmaker Roderick Spencer

As part of Exeter's Martin Luther King Day celebration, the husband-and-wife team of filmmaker Roderick Spencer (fourth from left) and actress Alfre Woodard (fifth from left) spent several days on campus, conducting workshops and directing a student ensemble in "By the People, For the People," an evening of poetry from South Africa and around the world. Woodard, an Oscar-nominated actress who has enjoyed a successful career in both film and television, and Spencer, a screenwriter and director, also held a Q&A session with drama students. "If you're an artist," Woodard told the students, "the sooner you realize it, the better." Of her own introduction to acting in high school, she said, "It was like all my life I'd been doing the backstroke, but on dry land. And then someone came along and tipped me into the water." Joining Woodard (center) are Sarah Ream '75, acting chair of the drama department (left), and drama instructor Vivian Brown '75 (right).

Jeremy England '99 Named Rhodes Scholar

Jeremy England, a senior at Harvard University, will be on his way to England later this year as one 32 American Rhodes Scholars.

"It is beyond anything I ever expected to be given this opportunity, a truly wonderful surprise," says England. "It makes me all the more thankful for the time I had at Exeter. I am certain that part of what helped me get to this point were the countless hours I spent sitting at a Harkness table, learning to talk and to listen."

England is studying biochemical sciences at Harvard. He hopes his graduate studies at Oxford University will lead to a doctorate in theoretical condensed matter physics, a discipline that will aid his study of the interplay of physics and biochemistry.

England's biography, which accompanied the announcement of his honor, describes him as "a Goldwater Scholar who has done groundbreaking analysis of protein structure, including a solution of a problem that had evaded leading scientists for many years. Jeremy has submitted articles to Nature and Physical Review Letters. He also is an accomplished violinist, actor and debater, and works as a peer tutor."

A day student from Durham, NH, England developed his interest in science at the Academy and spent the summer before his senior year working on a protein biochemistry project at the Research Science Institute at MIT. He was a member of Exeter's symphony orchestra and acted in several drama productions. At his graduation, he was one of five students awarded the Cox Medal for the highest scholastic rank in the class.

England will be part of an historic class of scholars. This year's group will arrive at Oxford 100 years after the first class of scholars entered in 1903. Established in 1902, the Rhodes Scholarship is one of the oldest international awards available to American students, and pays for all university fees and transportation, as well as providing students with a stipend.

Elizabeth Dolan Named Director of College Counseling

Betsy Dolan, the newly appointed director of college counseling, developed the Academy's college counseling website, considered a model in the field.

Elizabeth Dolan has been named the Academy's director of college counseling. Dolan had been serving as acting director following the departure of former director Mark Davis last summer. Davis is now head of St. Luke's School in New Canaan CT.

In announcing Dolan's appointment, Principal Ty Tingley said, "This fall, members of the search committee reviewed résumés and spoke to candidates from a national pool. After a thorough evaluation, it was clear that Betsy was the best choice for the job. Betsy's work in developing the college counseling website has been recognized as significant not only here at the Academy, but also among her colleagues at other independent schools, colleges and universities. Her understanding of our culture and the expectations of our students and their parents is unparalleled. Overall her management skills and her knowledge of the art and science of college counseling made her the committee's first choice."

"I am eager to expand my work with Exeter's talented students and fine professional staff," says Dolan. In her new role, she will be emphasizing the importance of communication and education, "two essential ingredients in understanding the ever-changing landscape of college admissions. I also plan to stress cooperation, as I work to unite teachers in the formal classroom with those in the college counseling office. I hope that together we can help young people make the kind of healthy choices and decisions necessary to weather these uncertain times."

Dolan came to the Academy five years ago after working for 10 years in the admissions office of Tufts University. She has taught English and mathematics and coached at the secondary school level, and was a member of the U.S. field hockey squad from 1983 to 1986.

Annie Riley '03: Making Friends While Making A Difference

The PEA chapter of Best Buddies pairs Academy students with local teenagers with disabilities. Building one-on-one friendships is the main objective of the program, but the chapter also gets together for group activities like bowling (above).

"First and foremost, Best Buddies is fun," says Annie Riley, an enthusiastic two-year senior from Potomac, MD, of the nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. To make her point, Riley describes a recent gathering of the Phillips Exeter Academy chapter of Best Buddies-the first in New Hampshire, which she founded this past fall-that featured a boisterous game of bingo. "People were screaming, laughing and having a good time," says Riley, smiling at the memory. "Why wouldn't you want to do that on a Wednesday afternoon instead of your math homework?"

Riley knows firsthand that there is much to be gained from the Best Buddies program. "My sister, who is now 20, has Down syndrome, and for my entire life I have been exposed to people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. I've never known anything different," she says. "When I saw the tremendous impact that Best Buddies had on her life, I knew it was something that I had to be a part of. The friendship she made with her buddy grew to be something so much more for both of them."

Annie Riley (above) has founded New Hampshire's first chapter of Best Buddies, a national organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. "With Best Buddies, you get a whole new perspective on life," says Riley, a senior from Potomac, MD. "Plus, you get to make a new friend."

Prior to coming to Exeter, Riley had already started a successful Best Buddies chapter at her school in Washington, D.C., and was excited to do the same when she got to the Academy. Working with the Reverend Bob Thompson, head of the Exeter Social Service Organization (ESSO), and Assistant Principal Tom Hassan, Riley forged a relationship with the special education department at Exeter High School. She also attended a Best Buddies leadership conference this summer in Houston, TX, that gave her a solid foundation in what it takes to set up and run a chapter, as well as access to resources on disabilities.

We have about 30 active members at the Academy, which is phenomenal," says Riley. "There are currently six matches, which is good for a new chapter, and we have lots of committed volunteers coming to the group activities and waiting for a buddy." Building one-to-one friendships is the main objective of the program, and matches do everything from hanging out in the dorms and chatting to going to the movies or the gym. Group activities, such as bowling and bingo, are held periodically to bring the whole group together.

Best buddies Spenser Sherman '04 (left) and Richard Messner (right).

"My disabled son, Ben, is lucky to be a charter member of Exeter's Best Buddies program," says Hassan, who also serves as the group's faculty adviser. "His best buddy from the Academy, Jeff Wirken '04, comes by to read Ben the scary stories he cannot and to share ice cream. A special relationship is forming, and Ben, Jeff and all of us are the better for it."

"With Best Buddies, you get a whole new perspective on life; a new sense of understanding," says Riley, who plans to remain an active member of the organization when she moves on to Harvard next fall. "Plus, you get to make a new friend."

Faculty member Tom Seidenberg is Exeter's unofficial ambassador of math. In any given year, he comes into contact with hundreds of high school math instructors from around the world, at lectures and workshops he is invited to present and as director of the Academy's Anja S. Greer Conference on Secondary School Mathematics, Science and Technology, which draws upwards of 325 teachers to Exeter for a week every June. So far this academic year alone, he has spent time in England (overseeing the Academy's Stratford Program), Colombia, Australia and North Carolina-all in the name of math. Not too bad for a guy taking his first sabbatical in 28 years of teaching.

"I've always seen the benefit of interacting with other math teachers, right from the beginning of my career," says Seidenberg. "It reinforces what you are doing and sends you back to the classroom with a little more enthusiasm. Plus, you always pick up one or two tidbits of new information. There's always room to learn something new.

It was a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship that he received in 1985, says Seidenberg, that really opened his eyes to the benefit of connecting with his peers. As one of 50 math teachers from across the country to receive the fellowship that year, Seidenberg attended a four-week institute on precalculus held at Princeton University. From this initial group, he was one of four teachers selected to present similar workshops to high school teachers across the country during the summer. "So from 1986 until 1997, we would spend four to five weeks per summer doing these workshops all over the country," he says. "We got to go to a lot of places and meet a lot of teachers. It was as great a learning experience for me as for those attending."

In 1990, after 16 years of teaching and coaching basketball in the public schools of Washington state, Seidenberg moved east to join the math department at PEA. "I first came to Exeter in 1987 to attend the Math Conference," he says. "I then came back the following year to teach a course on graphing calculators at the conference and saw a posting for a job. I've been here ever since."

The Academy offers Seidenberg the unique opportunity to pursue both his passion for teaching at the high school level and connecting with his fellow math instructors out in the field. The annual Math, Science and Technology Conference, which he has directed for the past nine years, brings together teachers from around the world-including 10 this coming summer from Bogota, Colombia, and several from Australia-to share ideas on curriculum and methodology. Conversely, Seidenberg and his colleagues from the math department are often invited by conference participants to visit schools and conduct workshops on an international level, making the Academy an important hub of information.

As far and wide as he has traveled over the years, Seidenberg says he is always left with a newfound appreciation for how math is taught at Exeter. "There have been a lot of discussions over the past 10 years at the national level about making changes in the way math is taught, giving some topics less emphasis-like factoring-and some topics more-like problem solving," explains Seidenberg. "Textbooks and publishers are slow to change. We differ because we wrote our own curriculum and aren't tied to a textbook. Here we teach mathematical concepts through problem solving, and students are actively involved in developing what they study. Textbook learning tends to give too much away-providing formulas and how they are developed."

With a B.S. in geology from Whitworth College in Spokane, WA, and an M.A.T. in mathematics from Central Washington State University, Seidenberg started off his career as a science teacher before being lured into a math position at another school that also allowed him to coach basketball-another long-held passion. In addition to teaching at Exeter and running the summer conference, he has also served as assistant boys' varsity basketball coach for seven years and chair of the discipline committee. He and his family-wife Lynn, who works in the college counseling office, and children Nathan '93 and Anne '99-lived in Ewald Hall for six years and Lamont Hall for four. Seidenberg has been recipient of several teaching honors, including a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching in 1985 and a Brown Teaching Award at Exeter in 1995 and a national Tandy Teaching Award in 1997.

"One of my strengths as a teacher is that I struggled with math myself when I was younger, so I know what that can be like," says Seidenberg. "Not all the kids are planning to become mathmeticians; many struggle and that's OK. " Seidenberg says he also tries to put a human face on the abstract whenever possible, talking about the people and intrigue behind the formulas, and putting math into a larger historical context. "I'm interested in making math more approachable," he says. "If I meet one less person at a cocktail party who says, 'I can't do math' or 'I don't like math,' I'll know I've done my job."

Rare is the opportunity for a young writer to have a substantial block of time to focus exclusively on his or her art, free from all material considerations. The Bennett Fellowship program-established at the Academy in 1968 by Elias Kulukundis '55 in honor of the late George E. Bennett '23, an influential member of the English department-offers just such an opportunity. Himself a writer, Kulukundis envisioned a program that would provide a dedicated, unpublished writer with a place to live and work, plus a small stipend, for one academic year. In return, the writer would serve as a source of inspiration and an informal resource to students.

"Exeter is an inspiring place-the charming historical town, the woods, the two rivers, fresh and salt, and the vibrancy of the school with its bustle of creative activity and busy young minds," says poet Maggie Dietz, the current Bennett Fellow. "The Academy's resources are amazing as well-the facilities, especially the library, but even more so the people, the bright students, the faculty. It's no wonder there are lots of writers here-one thing I've been delighted to discover."

This April 7 and 8, Dietz will be joined by over 20 former Bennett Fellows who will return to campus to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Bennett Fellowship program. Festivities will include a public reading on Monday, April 7, an assembly by Kulukundis on Tuesday, April 8, and class visits and panel discussions throughout the two-day period. A private reception honoring George Bennett and others involved with the program who have passed away will also be held. "I've loved my time at Exeter, and aim to use every minute of the months I have left," says Dietz. "This fellowship's a gem-there's really nothing else like it out there for writers."

The Academy trustees held their winter meeting in Exeter on January 23-25. Financial items dominated the agenda, since this meeting is the one at which next year's tuition rates are set. The trustees approved tuition for next year of $30,000 for boarders and $22,800 for day students.

The trustees recognized that PEA, as well as most other schools, is anticipating financial challenges in the year to come. Even though our endowment continues to outperform the market, the Academy will have to reduce its expenses.

The building and grounds committee heard the good news that the major renovation of the library has been a success. That committee also discussed moving forward with the plans for renovation of Peabody Hall this summer, as well as the next phase of the landscaping plan.

The building and grounds committee discussed two new projects which are proceeding as a result of gifts that will provide partial funding for each. The trustees approved hiring an architect to begin developing a concept plan for a new and enlarged children's center; they will also engage an architect to study Love Gymnasium with an eye toward new squash courts.

The trustees spent time in the dorms on Thursday night with dorm faculty and students, and heard a presentation on the Curriculum Review on Saturday morning. The trustees' next meeting is scheduled for May 15-17.

Exoniana: Do You Remember?

Can you identify this mystery photo? Where is it located, and are there any traditions, tales or superstitions associated with it? Memories from any era are most welcome. Answers and/or reminiscences will be published in the next issue. Mail to Exoniana, c/o The Exeter Bulletin, Phillips Exeter Academy, Communications Office, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833. Answer to the Last Issue: It is affirmative-the majority of Exonian votes correctly identified the 1947 mystery photo as the Debate Room, located on the top floor of Phillips Hall. One reader even identified the student, S. Bobo Dean '50, who stands at the podium under the portrait of Daniel Webster while engaged in a debate. Today, the active, 30-member Debate Club continues to hold weekly meetings in the Debate Room as club members prepare for debating tournaments around New England, and for the annual Phillips Exeter Academy Debate, which drew more than 170 debaters last year, making it the largest in New England. According to the club's adviser, Hunter Farnham, "Some things in the Debate Room have changed since the 1947 picture in the last Bulletin: the wonderful Hitchcockian chairs have been replaced by more utilitarian seats with writing desks; the Golden Branch and G.L. Soule groups are, sadly, memories; dress code has been relaxed and shirts and ties are seldom seen during Sunday afternoon practices; and most importantly, more than half the members of the Debate Club are girls!" And the Winner is: Peter l. becket '58 of Lakeville, ct, who received an engraved Phillips Exeter Academy Cross pen. "Might this be a picture of the Junior Debating Society (JDS)? I recall my first participation in a JDS debate in the fall of 1954. We were given topics a minute or two prior to our speeches. I was clueless how to address 'Resolved: That i.e. is better than e.g.,' but was awarded a blue balloon, perhaps for the shortest speech of the evening. In my day we had Golden Branch, PEA Senate and G.L. Soule, so perhaps any of these were started in 1947 (or earlier) and could have survived to the present day. The student activity is, of course, debating." Two contest winners every time! Due to popular demand (see letters), there will be two prizes awarded for correct answers to the Exoniana contest. One prize will be for the first correct answer received via the U.S. Postal Service. The other correct answers will be placed into a drawing and a second winner will be chosen at random. Competition When I was at Exeter more than 60 years ago (1937-40), there were two debating societies, Golden Branch and G.L. Soule, as well as an Academy Debating Team composed of members drawn from each. Competition between the two societies was very keen. Speaking of competition, the Exoniana contest is not very fair. Since you require responses by U.S. mail only, New Englanders will always win owing to their geographical advantage. The winners of your last contest were from Massachusetts and Connecticut. Email responses would be fairer, but not completely so because The Exeter Bulletin does not arrive everywhere on the same day. Nonetheless, I have very much enjoyed participating. Beat Andover! Beverly C. Snow Jr. '40 Fripp Island, SC James P. Felstiner '50 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Scales of Justice I am sure that you will have received an abundance of replies identifying the Debating Society and S. Bobo Dean '50. My reply is delayed because we-my brother (William "Bill" Felstiner '47) and our wives-have just returned from a trip abroad. I strongly protest your rule limiting entries to U.S. mail only. As a recently retired member of the Canadian Scholarship Foundation, I am sure I speak for all its members and contributors, and other Exonians who have the opportunity and pleasure to reside outside the United States of America, when I protest the total unfairness of the rule restricting submissions to those who have access to a U.S. stamp and mailbox. James P. Felstiner '50 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Editor's note: Please know that by "via U.S. mail only" we mean that we welcome responses from all corners of the world delivered to the Academy via the U.S. Postal Service, but not via express couriers or email. The Joys of Adolescence The picture sure looks like the Junior Debating Society. Unfortunately, it was hard to be unus ex pueris ("one of the boys") and debate. Such is adolescence! Peter S. Mueller '48 Princeton, NJ Heart Palpitations I attended the Academy from 1948 to 1949 and am certainly familiar with the activity pictured in your winter issue. This is the Debating Club, and if I am not mistaken, the portrait in the background is of Daniel Webster. I was urged to participate in the Debating Club, but I had a hard time. I did not understand at the time how one could argue in favor of a position that one did not believe in. Furthermore, I was so nervous that when I got up to speak, my heart beat so fast, and my lips trembled so much, I could hardly get a word out. These humiliating experiences made me realize that the undergraduates that I now teach at Northeastern University often suffer the same shyness that I did in 1948. Fortunately, life and journalism largely cured me of these problems. In conclusion, let me say that I admire the fact that the young men pictured in the Bulletin are wearing coats and ties. At the time, I did not object to this sartorial requirement and it seems to me today that the habit introduced a needed level of dignity to the discussions. Nicholas Daniloff '52 Boston, MA Affirmative First of all, congratulations on a splendid issue of the Bulletin. I enjoyed seeing the lovely photo of my hero, Jim Ottaway, and his daughter, and reconnecting with the outstanding Harkness men featured in "97 Lives That Changed Life at Exeter." It is they who were responsible for my answer at a recent gathering of friends. When asked, "Aside from good health and family, what are you most grateful for?," I replied, "My education." The 1947 Exoniana photo is, of course, a debate in progress on the top floor of Phillips Hall, with the portrait of Daniel Webster behind the speaker, who is clearly speaking for the affirmative. It is probably the G.L. Soule Debating Society, although I know I took part in at least one debate for the Junior Debating Society in 1951-52. This could possibly be a photo of one of their debates. I won't hedge, and I'll go with Soule and I hope it's a victory for the affirmative. Aubrey W. Peterson '55 East Hampton, NY Racy topics The Golden Branch/Gideon Lane Soule Debating and Literary Society room is located at the top of Phillips Hall in a room whose key is passed from society president to society president (or at least was 25 years ago). The Branch-Soule society itself is more than 125 years old and is the result of the merger of two separate debating clubs. In my day, debates were informal and separate from those of the Debating Team. We would meet weekly to debate with relatively little research a topic picked the previous week. It was great practice for politics. My nine-month tenure as president was interrupted when the racy topics my cohorts and I picked to increase attendance (prostitution, pornography, gun control, etc.) proved too "trivial" for the more conservative students who were the most regular attendees. Richard W. Berenson '76 Newton, MA Magical That tight, spiraled staircase is in the Davis Student Center. At the time, I observed spiral staircases as a sort of Narnian improvement on the normal square-set stairs we've all seen: so much more magical, so much more potential for leading to something unusual, too. So full of movement! Fiona D.J. Bayly '85 New York, NY Bats and Santa Claus Your picture shows a meeting of the student debate society in their regular room on the top floor of Phillips Hall, a room which I always remember as being a bit chilly, actually. Although I never debated, I had some friends who were part of the Academy's official debate team and who would practice their skills at Branch-Soule meetings. So I would occasionally attend Branch-Soule debates on subjects ranging from the topical to the philosophical, from the local to the global, from the sublime to the ridiculous. At the debate's conclusion, attendees would decide which side won by moving to the side of the room they felt was victorious. I recall that one evening's debate was temporarily disrupted when a bat flew through an open window and circled the room. Eventually, the bat found its way back out the window, and as the chaos from our collective Bruce Wayne-like experience died down, a vigorous argument ensued as to whether or not the bat spent more time on one side of the room or the other, and for which side the chiropteran vote should be counted. I also recall another evening's debate, right before the winter holiday, when the chosen topic was the existence or nonexistence of Santa Claus. After one student debater delivered what was surely the most exquisite rhetoric ever assembled to disprove the existence of Christendom's jolly old St. Nicholas, there came a pounding from the closet wherefrom emerged the heretofore hidden Branch-Soule's president, attired in a Santa Claus outfit, distributing Yuletide wishes to all attendees. I still wonder who was and was not in on that joke. Thanks for the strides down memory lane, though I confess it's a little troubling to me to realize that I'm now old enough to recognize more and more of these Exoniana mystery photos. Aging gets us all, surely. Ali T. Kokmen '88 New York, NY The Secret Room It's the debate society room, on the top floor of Phillips Hall. I wasn't a member of the debate society; I was always more interested in consultation. But I do remember Mr. Rogers leading us all upstairs to this secret room. We all had a turn to sit up at the podium and share our Senior Meditations. I remember everything was painted an outrageous blue and it felt like a courtroom filled with tons of books. It's nice to remember. Vanessa M. Ring '98 Exeter, NH Thank you for taking time to share your memories. -Alice Ann Gray

Letters to the Editor

97 Lives That Changed Life at Exeter

I've just received my copy of the winter 2003 issue of the Bulletin, and all I have to say is what a fantastic issue! There are a lot of very pleasant memories in the article "97 Lives That Changed Life at Exeter." And the story on the current Curriculum Review project gives us a very good idea of how the Academy keeps on top of educational advances, while still holding on to the good things about "the way we do things at Exeter." As a retired public school teacher, I envy the PEA faculty and staff the opportunity to work on developing such a curriculum, even though the job must be tough and time-consuming.

Finally, I really relate to the "Finis Origine Pendet" essay by Kristen DeVoe '74, as a very close relative of mine is also bipolar. When he was in his mid-to-late teens, I watched him undergo, to a severe degree, many of the symptoms that Kristen describes in her article. Thank goodness both Kristen and my relative are now productive citizens who are finally enjoying life.

Doug Halsted '53
Andover, MA

Untitled

As soon as I saw the cover story, "97 Lives That Changed Life at Exeter," I knew I would find mentioned Ted Seabrooke and Bill Bolden (it's still strange for me to refer to them by their first names after all these years). My friendship with Bill spanned my entire three years at Exeter, beginning with his English class for lowers, while that with Ted evolved during club lacrosse my senior spring. Both men, however, have had a lasting influence on me as clearly they have had on others. I'll never forget Ted's sage lacrosse advice, delivered with a twinkle in his eye: "Always retaliate first."

Roy "Jono" Cobb M.D. '75
Maplewood, NJ

Untitled

The wonderful article about the 97 people who had dedicated their lives to Exeter included, of course, Hammy Bissell. His work to find "boys who are long on brains and short on cash" triggered memories for both of us.

Certainly many, if not most, of Hammy's boys came from the ranks of newspaper boys, but the program that affected us was more modest in numbers. Somehow, Hammy's interest grew to include the families of the National Park Service, the dedicated career professionals who keep these wonderful places for all of us. We were told Hammy went to Washington, D.C., met with the director of the park service, and established a program that, at least for a while, brought qualified boys from the national parks to Exeter.

John's story: In 1955, our father was superintendent of a small area in rural southwestern Minnesota, Pipestone National Monument. He cared deeply about educating his family, and knew his career at that point could take him anywhere and not necessarily to places with good high schools. He gave me the information about Exeter provided by the park service, explained what a private preparatory school was and asked if I was interested.

Of course I was interested! After all, Exeter was someplace I'd never been and the pictures of classes and athletics looked fun. What more could a 13-year-old boy dream of? So I applied and took the exam. When the letter came, it turned out that I had not only passed, but had been admitted on a full scholarship. Unbelievable dreams that I'd not ever known I could have were coming true.

And so I went to Exeter. My mom said that I got on the train and never looked back. Thanks to Hammy, that's true.

Bob's story: When John came home on vacation, I listened eagerly to his stories of Exeter and, with Hammy's encouragement on his annual visits, determined I would go too. I applied, tested, was accepted and offered a scholarship.

But when the time came, my folks said they couldn't afford to have both of us in Exeter at the same time. I was disappointed, but agreed to wait. But the next year when Hammy came to visit, my dad told him he didn't think he could afford to send John to college and me to Exeter, even on a full scholarship. Hammy asked my Dad to go into a separate room with him. A few minutes later they came back-and I was on my way to Exeter! Hammy made it possible with some transportation help and the promise of a part-time job while at Exeter. The day after I arrived, I visited Hammy and he gave me directions to the Western Union office, where I delivered telegrams on bicycle.

We know some other park service boys went in those years, but we don't know who they were. We do know that Exeter dramatically changed both our lives. We both made wonderful careers around the National Park Service, which I think we would have done anyway. But we both believe the rigorous preparation and delightful experiences we had at Exeter gave us an intellectual and ethical base that allowed us to be far better people and professionals than we would have been.

John J. Reynolds '60 Castro Valley, CA
Robert W. Reynolds '63
Carson City, NV

Saving Endangered Creatures

Thank you for your report on the granting of the John Phillips Award to John R. Twiss '56 (Winter 2003). It is wonderfully apposite that John Twiss should have spent his life saving seals, otters, manatees and other creatures from life-threatening circumstance, for he began that career one night more than 45 years ago at PEA. On that occasion, the endangered creature he saved was me. On one of those dark, dead-winter Exeter nights, I took a tumble down the icy steps of what was then called the Thompson Science Building. Some time later I awoke in the hospital with a fractured skull and a blank memory. I was told that I had been found in a snow bank and tugged to safety by someone named John Twiss.

I had never met John Twiss-he was, after all, a godlike senior, and I but a new-boy lower-but when I sought him out to thank him, he brushed off his life-saving work as all in an Exonian's day. Well, perhaps a rare Exonian's day. I am delighted the Academy has now recognized in John the exceptional qualities of spirit and character I first saw in 1956.

Neal B. Freeman '58 Vienna, VA

More on That Pregnant Mare Mule

Memories beget memories. In Wayne Tyson's letter about Thompson cage (Winter 2003), he mentions being rubbed down by Mr. Hyde, the athletic trainer, with salve that Mr. Hyde swore "was made from the urine of a pregnant mare mule."

My. Hyde appears to have been at the cutting edge of sports medicine in 1950. My late brother, Harry Whitmore '40, was a member of the Academy football team. He went on to major in chemistry at Penn State, where, as a research assistant, he participated in Russell Marker's experiments in synthesizing steroids. One of Harry's jobs in 1948 was to sit behind pregnant mares and catch their urine in a bucket.

Frank C. Whitmore Jr. '34
Silver Spring, MD

War and Peace

Richard W. Murphy '47 (left), former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Syria and the Philippines and the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs during the Reagan and Bush administrations, spoke in support of U.S. policies toward Iraq during assembly on February 24. Murphy, who is now a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, is shown above with Rick Schubart (right), chair of the history department.

As plans for war with Iraq escalated during the winter months, so did debate on campus about the U.S. role in the conflict. Political forums and prayers vigils were held, and in February, 40 Exeter students and several faculty members traveled by bus to New York City, to take part in the February 15 rally protesting American intervention in Iraq. Shown here are (left to right) upper Charly Simpson, senior Kelsey Smith (background, with sign), senior Kate Galassi and upper Rachel Rhoades.

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