An Open Letter from Students to the Phillips Exeter Academy Board of Trustees
If you are a current student at Exeter (graduating ’17 and beyond) and agree with the statements in this letter, we ask that you sign your name to show your concern and solidarity. To do so, please fill out the simple form below and we will add your name to the list. Your name and graduating year will be the only information shown.
We encourage you to sign this letter, even if these issues feel remote to you. Please understand — sexual harassment and assault affect everyone. We are stronger as a school when we protect and support each other. The issue at hand is the safety of our peers and ourselves. If you don’t sign this letter for yourself, sign it for a brother, a sister, friend or classmate. We are all affected when victims are silenced, and we are all affected when an administration does not handle students’ safety correctly.
This letter is only the first step to making sure Exeter protects us and those we love. We can work together to see better days.
If you have any questions, please email Claire Dauge-Roth (cdauge@exeter.edu).
Link to sign your name: http://goo.gl/forms/aRO7deYKaxMsoSM43
To the Phillips Exeter Academy Board of Trustees,
We write to you as concerned students of the Academy, deeply disappointed by the events reported in the July 13th Boston Globe article. We are saddened that members of our administration whom we trusted hurt Michaella Henry, our friend and peer, by inadequately responding to her assault, and we write this letter with the conviction that our school can improve.
Michaella is not alone. The response from our administration and the school minister highlights previous reports and suggests that other cases may have been mishandled. Alumni have come out with their own stories in dealing with our administration and have described similar interactions. Some deans and faculty have reportedly approached these cases with prolonged skepticism when the appropriate response would have been to prioritize support for the victim. We deserve better.
Exeter acts in loco parentis and therefore bears exceptional responsibility to protect its students’ well-being. However, after the administration has recently been honest and forthcoming regarding old cases, the disregard shown for current students and their trauma is troubling. The administration has failed Michaella Henry and in doing so has failed the entire Exeter community. We have lost our trust that the school believes our voices and traumas matter.
Exeter must do better. We must do better for the students arriving on campus this fall who feel unsafe. We must do better for the victims of assault who feel that the administration has brushed aside their traumatic experiences. We must do better for the alumni who are questioning their pride in the school they love. We must do better for the parents who trust Exeter to protect their children: us.
We, the current students of Phillips Exeter Academy, advocate:
1. That the administration clarify students’ rights and choices when they seek to report a sexual assault. Those who have been assaulted have the right to know which aspects of their experience can remain confidential, which cannot, and what steps they can take according to how much they want released. A clear timeline must be available to students so they can anticipate the procedures following their report. These should be clear so students can make educated decisions about their health and safety while getting the help they need.
2. That the administration meet the needs of victims within reason. The school must provide access and transport to support systems like HAVEN. Students must be able to request and receive the counseling they need, even if that counseling is off-campus. We will not tolerate the denial of access to these support systems, as experienced by Michaella.
3. That leaders of the Exeter community, such as deans, faculty, student listeners, dorm proctors, and team captains, be trained rigorously and be obliged to take sexual assault seriously. These leaders are often those to whom victims of sexual assault first turn, and they must be trained in how to support students who come forward with allegations of assault.
4. That the administration not threaten victims with no-contact contracts, which punish victims and alleged aggressors for seeking the other out. Note that victims do not typically seek out their aggressors. Such contracts increase victims’ levels of stress and trauma because they could jeopardize their education.
5. That anonymous statistics regarding the handling of sexual assault or harassment be released each year to current students, incoming students, and alumni, in order to inform and strengthen the Exeter community.
6. That the E-Book accurately reflect the definitions of sexual harassment and sexual assault established by New Hampshire State Law. Currently, Exeter defines non-consensual sexual touching as sexual harassment instead of sexual assault, which creates inconsistencies in mandated reporting to law enforcement.
Refer to E-Book pages 61, 63, and 68 for Phillips Exeter Academy’s sexual harassment and assault policies. The New Hampshire law regarding misdemeanor assault is as follows:
A person who touches another person for sexual gratification and without the other person’s consent has committed a misdemeanor sexual assault in New Hampshire. (N. H. Rev. Stat. Ann. 632-A:4.)
7. That faculty, deans, and the principal engage in close discussion with students. We understand that they want to support us, and we would like to work with them to improve our school.
Thank you for reading and considering our letter. We know that sexual assault deeply upsets you, as members of the Exeter community. We look forward to working with you to ensure that all members of our community receive the support, clarity, and justice they deserve.
Dolapo Adedokun ‘18
Abigail Africa ‘17
Christopher Agard ‘17
Gillian Allou ‘19
Isabella Alvarez ‘19
Jaynee Anaya ‘18
Alejandro Arango ‘17
Hillary Aristotle ‘17
Perry Asibey-Bonsu ‘17
Ariane Avandi ‘19
Kate Babcock ‘17
Divya Bade ‘17
Maya Basak ‘19
Aum Bhuva ‘18
Isabel Bitman ‘17
Maya Blake ‘17
Nate Bogardus ‘17
Meg Bolan ‘18
Jennifer Breen ‘17
Camila Brown ‘19
Gabriel Byan ‘18
Jacqueline Byrne ‘18
Connie Cai ‘17
Ciara Cagney ‘18
Emma Cerrato ‘20
Meghana Chalasani ‘17
Lok Sang Chan ‘17
Brittani Chapman ‘17
Carissa Chen ‘17
Michael Chen ‘18
Richard Chen ‘17
Peter Chinburg ‘17
Jacqueline Cho ‘19
Anna Clark ‘18
Antigone Clark ‘17
Caroline Colbert ‘17
Leila Connolly ‘17
Chiara Perotti Correa ‘18
Grenfell Cowper ‘17
Alayna D’Amico ‘19
Ria Das ‘17
Raj Das ‘19
Claire Dauge-Roth ‘17
Diana Davidson ‘18
Miléna DeGuere ‘18
Ryan de Haseth ’17
Aili Desai ‘17
Kelsey Detels ‘17
Katherine Dolan ‘18
Alison Dowski ‘17
Melanie Duenas ‘17
Grace Duisberg ‘17
Zea Eanet ‘17
Charis Edwards ‘17
Nora Epler ‘17
Layne Erickson ‘18
Julia Friberg ‘17
Lily Friedland ‘18
Lara Galligani ‘18
Raul Galvan ‘17
Ariel Garcia-Carela ‘18
Grace Goodwin ‘19
Aivant Goyal ‘17
Sydnée Goyer ‘17
Grace Gray ‘19
Emily Green ‘18
Alexandra Grounds ‘17
Marichi Gupta ‘17
Audrey Hahn ‘17
Myles Haigney ‘17
Matthew Hambacher ‘17
Lynnaya Hamby ‘18
Benjamin Harrison ‘18
Ali Hassani ‘17
Autumn Herness ‘17
Erica Hogan ‘18
Andrew Hong ‘18
Ivy Hong ‘17
Jin Pyo Hong ‘19
Tyler Hou ‘17
Christine Hu ‘17
Jacob Hunter ‘19
Ellena Hye Ji Joo ‘17
Ahlam Ibrahim ‘19
Jayleen Jaime ‘18
Chandler Jean-Jacques ‘19
Mariam Jebari ‘18
Joonho Jo ‘17
Cara Jones ‘17
Emma Jordan ‘17
Claire Jutabha ‘18
Madison Kang ‘19
Anishta Khan ‘17
Grace Khaner ‘18
Eliza Khokhar ‘17
Bokyoung Kim ‘17
Dong Whan Kim ‘18
Margaret Kraus ‘18
Isadora Kron ‘19
Vinayak Kurup ‘19
Sydney Lamb ‘17
Silas Lane ‘18
Elianne Lee ‘18
Jonathan Lee ‘17
Katherine Lee ‘18
Olivia Lei ‘18
Hoyeon Kelly Lew ‘17
Brandon Liu ‘17
Sofia Lombardo ‘17
Samuel Long ‘17
Joel Lotzkar ‘17
Philippe Louis ‘17
Kate Lu ‘18
Arielle Lui ‘18
Rachel Luo ‘17
Xiaoyu Ma ‘17
Paul MacDonald ‘17
Winslow MacDonald ‘18
Hannah Mackay ‘17
Chinasa Mbanugo ‘19
RC McShane ‘17
Cory Mengden ‘17
Serena Michaels ‘17
Jiro Mizuno ‘17
Rachel Moberg ‘18
Madeline Moon ‘19
Bryce Morales ‘19
Patricia Moriarty ‘18
Francelis Morillo Suarez ‘17
April Murphy ‘18
Daniela Nemirovsky ‘17
Abel Ngala ‘18
Khanh Nguyen ‘17
Emma Norton ‘17
Efia Nuako ‘17
Ogechi Nwankwoala ‘19
Molly O’Day ‘18
Sophia Oguri ‘18
Makinrola Orafidiya ‘19
Elaney Ortiz ‘17
Inumidun Oyebode ‘19
Hanna Pak ‘19
Grace Pan ‘18
Joanna Papadakis ‘17
Lena Papadakis ‘17
Nolan Peacock ‘17
Camilla Pelliccia ‘19
Emily Pelliccia ‘18
Christopher Penn ‘18
Miguel Pérez-Glassner ‘17
Paula Perez-Glassner ‘20
McCord Perry ‘17
Michaela Phan ‘19
Maya Pierce ‘17
Hannah Piette ‘17
Charlotte Polk ‘18
Mary Provencal-Fogarty ‘19
Geyang Qin ‘17
Arjun Rajan ‘17
Ben Ralston ‘17
Gautam Ramesh ‘18
Année Reach ‘18
Henrietta Reily ‘17
Alex Renaud ‘18
Pedro Repsold de Sanson ‘18
Joaquin Riojas Zambrano ‘18
Jesús Rivera ‘17
Emily Robb ‘17
Matthew Robbins ‘17
Tyler Samuels ‘18
Claudia Sanchez ‘20
Declan Saviano ‘17
Katrina Schmitt ‘19
Chloe Scocimara ‘18
Emmett Shell ‘18
Sarah Shepley ‘18
Amanda Sherwood ‘19
Mia Shoquist ‘17
Tori Simon ‘19
Elijah Smith ‘18
Oreoluwa Solanke ‘17
William Soltas ‘18
Athena Stenor ‘18
Madison Stern ‘18
Lucas Stevens ‘18
Nik Stork ‘18
Chayapa Sukhum ‘18
Lydia Summermatter ‘18
Nicholas Sun ‘18
Ji Won Sung ‘17
Charlotte Sununu ‘17
Eric Tang ‘17
Megi Topalli ‘18
Kris Torres ‘17
Wynter Tracey ‘19
Ivy Tran ‘18
Joshua Velazquez ‘18
Abigail Waite ‘18
Tara Weil ‘19
Isabella Weissman ‘17
Grace Williams ‘17
Lauren Wilson ‘17
Khinezin Win ‘20
Harrison Wladis ‘17
Aidan Wolff-King ‘17
Heekyoung Woo ‘17
Stella Woo ‘17
Jaden Wood ‘17
Evan Xiang ‘17
Wendi Yan ‘18
Yuan Yao ‘17
Sydney Yoon ‘17
Jena Yun ‘17
Tayo Zenger ‘17
Tony Zhu ‘17
Jacob Zimmerman ‘19
Robert Zintl ‘17
Nada Zohayr ‘17
Sophia Zu ‘18
