Phillips Exeter Academy

About Phillips Exeter

Photo of the Academy Building'''Phillips Exeter Academy''' (also called Exeter or PEA) is a co-educational independent boarding school located on 471 acres (1.9 km²) in Exeter, New Hampshire, one hour north of Boston. It is considered by many to be one of the finest preperatory school in the United States. Phillips Exeter currently has the largest endowment of any secondary school in the United States at a market value of $563,634,089 (per Tax Form 990). In the fall of 2004, Exeter announced a capital-raising program: Exeter Initiatives. Exeter Initiatives is the most ambitious capital-raising progam in the history of secondary schools; it is intended to raise $305,000,000. The school was established in 1781 by John and Elizabeth Phillips. Due to this, it shares a long standing (and friendly) rivalry with its sister school, Phillips Academy, also known as Andover. Like Andover, the Academy's primary Latin motto is Finis Origine Pendet, meaning "the end depends upon the beginning," and it is scrolled across the bottom of the school seal. The school's secondary motto, Non Sibi, located in the sun, means "not for one's self." Exeter graduates may, if they wish, purchase a class ring with the school seal with the text Sigill Phillip Exoniensis Academiae - Nov Han 1781 surrounding it. The Deed of Gift, written by John Phillips at the founding of the school, articulates a second pedagogical philosophy in addition to that of self-sacrifice: "Though goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous." Every year, the headmaster is required to speak on this theme at the school's opening assembly. Since a 1930 gift by the oil magnate and philanthropist Edward Harkness, the Academy's principal mode of instruction has been by discussion, "seminar style," around an oval table (known as the "Harkness table.") Classes are restricted to small sizes to encourage participation of all the students. Phillips Exeter has been co-educational since 1970. Prior to that time, it was an all-boys school. The Academy is also known for its uniquely modern library, designed by Louis Kahn. At present, the library houses 145,000 volumes and has a shelf capacity of 250,000 volumes. It has a quite unique architectural shape, being formed to resemble four books resting against each other. Philips Exeter was the inspiration for the Devon School in John Knowles' novels, A Separate Peace and Peace Breaks Out. As Exeter, NH, was the birthplace of author John Irving, it is said that the town and the school appears in many of his books, most notably, A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Exeter Slang

• 333 - The title of the American history course required of all uppers, and also the name of the paper required by said course. The best papers are often published in academic journals.
• Bubble - The semi-circular glass enclosure on the North side (facing Webster Hall) of Wentworth Hall.
• The Cage - Building across from the soccer and baseball fields which housed the indoor track, wrestling room, and provided indoor training facilities for numerous other sports during inclement winter weather.
• Cow Tipping - The beloved pastime of all New-Hampshirites, many Exeter students have adapted this sport as a way of life. After Saturday classes, and all of their homework is finished, of course, many a student have been known to start a grueling cow-tipping match to the death.
• D.C. - The Disciplinary Committee, which makes rulings on punishable student offenses, and ultimately decides if individual students should be expelled.
• Dick - A verb form of “dickey,” meaning both the act of a student missing a class and the act of a teacher turning in an absence slip, as in “I dicked that class,” and “I just got dicked.” The term dates back to the 1930s when Wells Kerr served as the Dean of Students (actually Mr. Kerr served in that position from 1930 to 1953). The students of the time viewed Mr. Kerr as being very honest and fair-minded. They made a connection between Mr. Kerr and Dickey Kerr, the one “honest” starting player employed by the White Sox during the scandalous 1919 World Series and so began calling Mr. Kerr, “Dickey.” Notes received from Mr. Kerr (which were often about attendance) were eventually referred to as “dickeys,” and the rest evolved from there.
• D.H.M. - A term used by students to describe their quest to understand a text—that is, to uncover or discover the Deep Hidden Meaning of a text. One of the hallmarks of the English Department.
• Fishbowl - Windowed dining room in Wetherell Dining Hall.
• Lower or Lower-Middler - A 10th grader, sophomore.
• Midnight Scream - This ritual involves yelling out the nearest dormitory window at midnight on the last night of each term.
• PG - A post graduate student. A student that has already graduated from another high school and is doing an additional year of high school.
• Prep or Junior - A 9th grader, freshman.
• Probation or Probes - Disciplinary Probation. The most stringent disciplinary consequence while still remaining at the Academy. A twelve-week period that includes five weeks of early check-in and a review by the Discipline Committee. If a student does not pass the review, he will be required to withdraw from the Academy.
• RAL - Reporter-at-large paper written by uppers (third-year students) for their English class.
• Senior Spring - The final term in an Exonian's time at Exeter, typically consisting of an easy course schedule, hanging out with friends, and having a last hurrah. However, a failed course during this term will result in the awarding of no diploma.
• Smurfs - A derrogatory nickname for Andover students (school color is blue).
• Spaz - a.k.a. “prep-spaz” or “Prep Program.” A fond nickname for the ninth-grade physical education program required of all preps not playing a varsity or JV sport in a given term.
• Upper or Upper-Middler - An 11th grader, junior.
• Vs - Visitation privileges required to have a member of the opposite sex in one's dorm room. An unauthorized visitation is called an "Illegal V", and can result in disciplinary action.

Notable Alumni

• Lewis Cass (1792) - Secretary of State
• Daniel Webster (1796) - Senator
• John Adams Dix (1810)
• George Bancroft (1811)
• Franklin Pierce (1820) - 14th U.S. President
• Robert Todd Lincoln (1860)
• Frederick Winslow Taylor (1874)
• Booth Tarkington (1889)
• James Agee (1928)
• Pierre DuPont III (1930)
• Adolph Coors III (1933)
• Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (1933)
• Joseph Coors (1935)
• James T. Aubrey, Jr. (c. 1936)
• Gore Vidal (1943)
• George Plimpton (1944) - Author/Journalist
• John Knowles (1945)
• Pierre Dupont IV (1952)
• Jay Rockefeller (1954) - Senator
• Stewart Brand (1956)
• H. John Heinz III (1956) - Senator
• John Negroponte (1956) - U.S. Ambassador to Iraq
• Peter Benchley (1957)
• Daniel Dennett (1959)
• John Irving (1961) - Author
• Peter H. Coors (1965)
• Judd Gregg (1965) - Senator
• Kent Conrad (1966) - Senator
• David Eisenhower (1966)
• Fred Grandy (1966) - Actor
• Joyce Maynard (1971)
• Paul Klebnikov (1981) - Journalist
• Dan Brown (1982) - Author
• Chang-Rae Lee (1983) - Author

Books or movies with portrayals of Exeter alumni, students or staff:

• A Separate Peace - This novel by John Knowles is set at "Devon," a thinly-veiled fictionalization of Exeter.
• Tea and Sympathy - This play by Robert Anderson (later a movie as well) treats the inner struggles of an Exeter student.
• Trading Places - Stockbroker Winthrop Louis III, played by Dan Ackroyd, is mentioned to be an Exeter alumnus.
• American Psycho - In the book by Bret Easton Ellis, Patrick Bateman, the main character, is mentioned to be an Exeter alumnus.
• The Birdcage - Calista Flockhart plays an Exeter alumnus.
• Bringing Down the House - Kevin Lewis, the main character is mentioned to be an Exeter alumnus.
• Widow for one Year - In this novel by John Irving, some of the characters are said to be Exeter alumni.

External Links

* Philips Exeter Academy website * PEA Alumni/ae website * Philips Exeter's "A Separate Peace" website

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