"ESSO on the Rise" from The Exeter Bulletin

Exonians providing language instruction to adopted children as part of ESSO's Chinese and Korean Culture programs

Exeter's tradition of service dates back to 1784 and the original Academy seal, on which the words non sibi (“not for oneself”) are etched across a rising sun. Today, a non sibi banner hangs in a modern, one-room office in Phelps Academy Center that serves 700 Exonians, close to 70 student clubs and over 120 community partners.

Exonians join local retirees in a game of cardsOn weekends and Wednesday afternoons, a bus pulls up in front of the Academy Center and takes students out to serve the local community—athletes teach elementary school students basketball, musicians perform at nursing homes, preps teach senior citizens computer skills. Throughout the week, students take part in service activities all over campus. The Exeter Social Service Organization (ESSO) has become a significant part of many Exonians’ lives, helping them put non sibi into action.

ESSO was formed in 1967 by the Student Council to encourage and coordinate community service, and since that time thousands of students have taken part in ESSO-sponsored clubs. But during the past three years, ESSO has entered a whole new era, growing in size, structure and stature. In 2005, the Academy hired its first community service coordinator, Laurie Loosigian, to oversee the growing number of programs. “ESSO has seen a surge of interest that I could never have imagined,” says Loosigian. “Our students are conditioned by our culture to volunteer, to make a difference. They yearn for contact with the community beyond PEA.”

ESSO’s student leadership has also increased dramatically. The 2007–08 ESSO executive board—Raymond Braun ’08, Kasey Brown ’08 and Michael Chung ’08—worked hard to raise ESSO’s profile, increase student participation and accountability, and shift the focus from fundraising to direct service. This April, ESSO helped organize not one, but three ambitious events: Community Action Day, which mobilized the entire student body and faculty to take part in 62 different service and sustainability projects; a mini Relay-for-Life, which brought hundreds of students, faculty and staff to their feet to raise funds for cancer research; and a day-long Service Learning Conference,which drew students from 11 different schools. At Prize Day in May, Braun, Brown and Chung received the Powell Award, which honors students who conceive and implement a “new and useful addition or benefit to the Academy community.” In this story, they share their reflections on non sibi at Exeter today.

—Katie Long ’09
ESSO Director of Publicity

Read the article as it appears in The Exeter Bulletin, Summer 2008...

See more articles from The Exeter Bulletin, Summer 2008...

Interested in learning more about ESSO?

Check out the ESSO webpage...

Read about recent ESSO projects..

 Got a story idea? Tell the Lion!