Let classes begin!

September 11, 2006

Ty Tingley delivering the opening assembly for Exeter's 226th year

Robert Hicks Bates '29, instructor emeritus, at opening assembly with his great-nephew, a prep. Bates received a standing ovation.

Opening assembly was that great thing once again – a mixture of introduction, welcome, tradition, history and looking to the future.

And this year, Exeter's 226th, Principal Ty Tingley celebrated something very special – the 75th anniversary of the Harkness gift, which changed the fundamentals of teaching, and life, at Exeter.

"Exeter, like all good schools is constantly growing and redefining its vision of the future," said Mr. Tingley, speaking to the entire student body, surrounded on the Assembly Hall stage by new faculty and emeriti/ae faculty . "We have the advantage of being able to build on an educational vision that was prescient in its time and remarkably robust and vital today."

"This year we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Harkness gift that transformed the way classes at the Academy were taught and, I think it could be argued, transformed the community of the school as well," Tingley continued, speaking of the donation that fuelled intense and rapid change. "Over three years the size of the faculty doubled, four new dormitories were built, and the Harkness table was designed and installed in classrooms in the Academy Building."

In summation, Tingley tied together the two great initiators of Exeter – John Phillips, who, with his wife Elizabeth, founded the Academy in 1781, and Edward Harkness, who questioned tradition and gave funds to revolutionize the school. "I wonder, sometimes, what John Phillips would think of this new way of educating that has grown up in his school. I have the suspicion that John Phillips would understand Edward Harkness," Tingley said. "Certainly he would observe that the Harkness discussion around our tables provides the opportunity for us all to better understand the different backgrounds and beliefs that compose this Academy and the world at large. Let us reflect on this historic mission as we begin the 226th academic year of Phillips Exeter Academy."

The speech wasn't all tradition and seriousness. Mr. Tingley regaled the students – from the seniors in the front rows to the preps in the balconies – with references to the Exeter of 1955, when a no-radios-on-campus rule prevailed. ("You remember those things," Tingley said, "they are the prehistoric ancestor of the iPod.") And that was just the beginning. "There shall be no ball games, ball tossing or throwing, nor throwing of tin plates,” stated the rules and regulations book of the day. 

Robert Hicks Bates '29, much-beloved English instructor emeritus and renowned explorer, author and Peace Corps director, attended the ceremony. He received a standing ovation when announced by Kathleen Curwen, dean of faculty. Bates, appointed in 1939, retired from Exeter in 1976. 

Finally, with great excitement, and the hoisting of placards declaring 2-0-0-7, the senior class, following long-established tradition, left the Assembly Hall first to attend class and get the year underway.

Read Ty Tingley's full assembly address ...

Learn more about Edward Harkness and the Harkness philosophy ...

Learn more about Robert Hicks Bates '29, '44, '50 (Hon.):

Robert H. Bates Mountaineering Collection

The Exeter Bulletin, Spring 2003

The American Alpine Club