Dear Exeter Community,

With delight and optimism, I write to you from the Principal’s Office in J. Smith. I could not feel more honored to serve as the 17th principal of 91�Թ���, and after months of eager anticipation, I am grateful to be here on campus.

In these opening days and weeks on campus, members of the community have welcomed my family and me with warmth and generosity. Can-do helpfulness and non-sibi spirit are palpable with every interaction, greeting and kind gesture, as folks have assisted with unpacking, orienting and acclimating. My husband, Grant, our four sons, Sam (22), Peter (20), George (18), and James (15), and our two dogs (Piper and Cali), and I have had a blast exploring campus gems, nearby woods, local beaches and Exeter restaurants. As you might expect, evening walks to Stillwells for giant scoops of delicious ice cream have become a ritual. Our first week here, a strawberry moon illuminated our evening stroll across Hill Bridge where fireflies swarmed the banks of the Exeter River.

My days are filled with nonstop opportunities for learning: fascinating conversations with colleagues and members of the alumni community, walks about campus to check out academic, athletic and residential spaces, and visits to the Lamont Gallery and the Class of 1945 Library and Archives. Campus is abuzz with activity, as 547 students from 38 US states and 42 countries and 127 faculty members traverse campus pathways with infectious energy in between their Exeter Summer courses and activities, as campus adults strategize and prepare for the year ahead, as the Facilities team maintains the beauty and function of campus spaces, as Global Initiatives supports our programs around the world, as the dining hall team nourishes us all, and as teams work tirelessly on three major construction projects and fifty smaller ones.

Last week, I had my first sneak peek of the Academy Building. For months, from an outsider’s perspective, I have been fascinated by the orchestration of people, equipment and activity, with the Instagram crane photos topping the charts of my wonder scale. I could not believe my good fortune when I got to don a hard hat and cross the building’s threshold with our director of facilities management and project manager of this remarkable endeavor. The best word to describe my experience: awe. Awe for the extraordinary attention to detail in restoring the beauty, craftsmanship and artistry of the original Harkness spaces; for the deep sense of connection I felt to the Academy’s history as I climbed the carefully preserved marble stairs and imagined the generations of learners who have convened in the elegant Latin Study; for the sense of possibility and potential that I believe the robotics and makers spaces will inspire as we enter the ground floor each day; and for the power of community that we will get to experience each time we gather together in the Assembly Hall. As I stood on the plastic-covered perch at the front of that grand space, looked up at the ornate light-transferring cupola, and scanned the spaciousness that our students and colleagues will soon bring to life, I was filled with awe and gratitude. In a few short months, we will assemble in this astounding physical structure that honors our deep history, creates daily opportunities for learning, growth, goodness and knowledge, and enthuses us to dream about what will and can be.

Students, I am hoping that you are enjoying your time away from campus, and I am curious about how you have filled your days: your work, your play, your time with loved ones, and your efforts to recharge and prepare. I want to know what you have been reading, watching and consuming, and I hope you will tell me about your new hobbies and old favorites. New students, I am counting the days until I get to welcome you to campus and embark on this exciting and transformative learning adventure with you. I am eager to join your classes, visit your practices and rehearsals, host you at Saltonstall House, indulge in Grill cookies with you, admire the latest Lamont exhibit with you, catch up in the omelet line at Elm Street, and cheer for you from the sidelines and the audience.

As I will be finishing my final courses for my doctorate program this year, I will study and draft right alongside you at the Rawson Reading Room tables and in the stacks of the library. Alongside my colleagues, I will be celebrating and supporting you every chance I get.

Each day I sharpen my appreciation for why you love Exeter so fiercely. And I am certain this understanding will deepen even further once you are here.

With much gratitude and excitement,
Jenny Elliott, principal

Members of the Class of 2026, it is now my privilege to deliver your farewell address.

First, parents, grandparents, and other family members who are gathered here today, thank you for giving this senior class the opportunity to attend 91�Թ���, and thank you for supporting them during their time here. You have given your children a great gift. You are right to be proud of all that they have accomplished during their time here, and all they have contributed to the life of the school. Thank you.

And now, seniors, congratulations! You did it! You succeeded at Exeter. I take great joy in celebrating with you today.

I often say I want you to aim high, have fun, and find joy in all that you do here. You have done so. It has not always been easy – Exeter is not supposed to be easy, and you have been quick to take on many challenges – but you met every challenge that you faced, and you always emerged stronger. You discovered new passions, developed new talents, and grew in confidence. You supported each other, celebrated each other, and contributed to each other’s learning and growth. Along the way, you made lifelong friends, and you made Exeter your home. You have every reason to celebrate and be joyful this morning.

As you reflect on your time here, it is important to remember why this school exists, and why you have been here. We are a private school with a public purpose: to unite goodness and knowledge and inspire youth from every quarter to lead purposeful lives.

John and Elizabeth Phillips founded Exeter almost 250 years ago because they believed youth was the important period in a person’s development. They believed that if youth from every quarter were imbued with knowledge and goodness at this school, then they would lead useful lives and make positive contributions in their communities.

We hold to that belief today. We believe that all of you can and will find ways to make a positive difference in the world, on whatever scale you choose, just as you have made a positive difference during your time at Exeter.

The words non sibi (not for oneself) are inscribed on our school seal because they represent the very spirit and purpose of our school.

Attending Exeter is an extraordinary privilege. With privilege comes opportunity, and with opportunity comes responsibility. In our core value of non sibi, we boldly state that we seek to graduate students who are motivated by their concern for others and the world around them, and who understand that an Exeter education should be used for the benefit of others as well as for oneself. We hope you will be inspired by this philosophy throughout your lives and strive always to make the world a better place not just for some, but for all.

Non sibi is not something that you do after you have been successful in life. Non sibi is how you are successful in life.

In time, you will find yourselves in leadership roles where you are expected to make decisions that affect other peoples’ lives. I hope you will always think of your decision-making authority not as power but as responsibility that you hold in trust for the benefit of others.

If you understand your authority as responsibility rather than power, then you will be more inclined to approach your responsibilities with humility and empathy. You will want to listen carefully and always understand how others will be impacted by the decisions that you make. You will want to make decisions that account for the needs and interests of all who will be affected by your decisions, not just those whom you might favor for one reason or another, and not leave anyone behind.

If you think of authority in this way, as responsibility held in trust for the benefit of others, then you likely will be asked to take on larger leadership roles with greater responsibility, and you thereby will have even greater opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of those around you.

This is a non sibi approach to authority and leadership — the opposite of much of what we see in the world today.

I also hope you will always understand and take to heart the dignity of all work and the equal worth of every human life.

I trace my roots to the small town of Harrisville, Rhode Island, where my grandmother had to go back to work in the textile mill when her husband died young. The town was poor. Nobody had much money. None of my aunts and uncles went to college, but they and my grandmother taught me about hard work, integrity and respect. It was during visits to Harrisville that I learned to respect the dignity of all work and equal worth of every human life – values that were reinforced when I came to Exeter. Harrisville is where I developed my approach to life, which can be summed up as work hard and treat people well.

There is a large body of evidence which shows that people tend to have less empathy for persons whom they perceive as different from themselves. In a school, this is bad because it can interfere with learning together collaboratively. In the world at large, it is dangerous, because having less empathy for persons who appear different – valuing their lives less than you value your own — can be one step removed from being indifferent to their suffering, which can be another step removed from contributing to their suffering, which can be one more step removed from going to war. We have seen this throughout history, and we see it in the world today.

At Exeter, our diversity is a defining strength of our school that propels our learning and growth as individuals and as a community. Living with fellow students from around the world and from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, you have experienced and understand in a deep way our common humanity. I hope you will be motivated by this understanding throughout your lives.

The lives that appear on the back pages of a newspaper are not worth less than the lives that appear on the front page.

It all comes back to knowledge and goodness. Our deed of gift states that goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous. United they form the surest foundation for usefulness to humanity.

As a society, we have many ways to measure knowledge. We have grades, diplomas, advanced degrees, prizes and awards, publications, and other ways that we recognize people for the knowledge they have acquired or created. People are often paid large sums of money for the knowledge they possess, which creates a powerful incentive to focus on knowledge acquisition and creation.

Yet, at the end of the day, when you look back on your lives, your sense of purpose and fulfillment will not be determined by the wealth you have accumulated or the accolades you have received. Your sense of purpose and fulfillment will be determined by how you have impacted the lives of others, how you have made a difference in the communities in which you live, and how you have made others feel along the way.

I have often said we are not special merely because we are here, but because we are here, we have the opportunity to do special things. Wherever you find yourselves next year, because you are Exonians, people will expect you to be capable and intelligent – they will be watching to see if you are kind and have humility. They will expect you to come with knowledge; they will be watching for your goodness.

I will conclude my remarks this morning with two final thoughts.

First, I hope you leave Exeter today with deep gratitude for the education that you have received, the transformative experiences that you have enjoyed, and the friendships that you have gained. In addition to your families and all adults on campus who have supported you during your time here, I hope your gratitude extends to prior generations of Exonians who have helped create and shape the Exeter of today, and who have thereby made your experiences here possible. In time, many of you will do the same for future generations of Exeter students.

Second, I hope you understand that you will always be Exonians. Your time as Exeter students is ending, but you will always belong to each other, and you will always belong here. I encourage you to return often to share your stories with your teachers and the school. By your examples, you will inspire future Exeter students to imagine their own possibilities.

Finally, on a personal note, I want to say I will always have great affection for the Class of 2026. Your class has great ability, great character, and great potential to do good work. I will be watching with keen interest to see what paths you choose and how you make a positive difference in the world.

To the Class of 2026, I wish you success and fulfillment in all your future endeavors. Congratulations.

With great joy, I present our newest alumni, the Class of 2026. Congratulations!

“This school has a huge endowment; why can’t we have nicer showers?” a teammate joked after swim practice last winter when we huddled up waiting for the water to turn warm. This is a common question among students on campus, including me.

The pursuit of this answer led me to apply for the Student Alumni Representatives (STARs) Council in the spring of lower year. As a member of STARs, I work closely with the Office of Institutional Advancement and serve as a student touchpoint for fundraising and alumni network events. I’ve helped mail thank-you cards to alumni donors; stood behind tables in the dining halls, encouraging students to contribute to The Exeter Fund; and led alumni on campus tours during their reunions.

During one of our bimonthly meetings in late September, I also had the privilege of learning the intricacies of the school’s finances from the Academy’s CFO, Marijka Beauchesne. While explaining the Academy’s annual revenue and expenses, she put into perspective that every small thing we use has a cost. From big-ticket items like building maintenance and faculty compensation to the chairs, the carpet and even the Otto’s pizza we had been served — everything must be factored into the Academy’s budget.

Importantly, she touched on the annual endowment draw — the amount the Academy is permitted to use each year. Of the approximately $1.65 billion total endowment, the annual draw is limited to $75 million, a spending rate of about 4.5%. She explained that when alumni contribute to the endowment, they often designate the money to specific departments such as science or athletics, and the funds must be contained within those sectors. This suddenly resolved the glaring question. Endowment funds are not open for use at all times and are rather intricately structured.

Having the chance to hear these numbers and breakdown directly from the CFO was a special opportunity. Much of this information was new to me, and I believe that this knowledge and transparency should be more widespread in our community. As students at the Academy, it’s empowering to be aware of how Exeter’s money is handled and know the ways it affects us. But more than just developing my financial literacy, STARs has opened me up to the endless possibilities of our Exeter network. I’ve been connected with young alumni currently pursuing careers in my fields of interest and have heard from older alumni about the way their Exeter journeys have impacted the rest of their lives. It’s given me a platform to learn and better appreciate the gift of an Exeter experience.

The renovation and expansion of Exeter’s iconic Academy Building is progressing ahead of schedule, with an aim of resuming classes there when school begins in the fall.

When the project is fully completed in early 2027, the 112-year-old building will boast 45 refurbished classrooms, a redesigned Assembly Hall, a new design lab and upgrades to the building’s electrical, mechanical, heating and cooling systems from stem to stern.

Crews from Consigli Construction began work the day after commencement last spring, balancing the need to overhaul the building’s systems while preserving its history. Features such as the high interior ceilings and the beloved marble staircase grooved by a century of Exonian footsteps will be retained. Every window will be replaced, but the marble sills will be preserved and polished.

The building’s newest features — beyond welcome climate control throughout — are still works in progress. Assembly Hall will be spun 180 degrees and seating expanded to accommodate 1,300 people. A massive crane on site will hoist beams weighing as much as 26,000 pounds into the interior to construct the hall’s new balcony.

The building’s north facade will be expanded to provide for the additional seating as well as make space for two new features: A large room overlooking the quad on the building’s first floor in which students can gather, study and relax; and a design lab on the basement floor to replace Mayer Auditorium. A reimagined terrace, entrance and foyer on the basement floor will greet students entering from the quad.

As many as 33 classrooms could be ready by September as the Math, History and Religion, Ethics & Philosophy departments move back in. The Assembly Hall and design lab are on pace to be completed by January or February.

Students, faculty, alumni, staff and trustees filled Love Gym on Friday to celebrate Jan Woodford, ’40, ’41, ’44, ’49, ’51, 52, ’53, ’59, ’60, ’62, ’70, ’71, ’78 (Hon.), who retired last year after working in the Academy’s Institutional Advancement department for 38 years. Woodford is the 2026 recipient of the Founders’ Day Award, given annually in recognition of longtime service to the Academy.

After a brief welcome from Principal Bill Rawson ’71; ’65, ’70 (Hon.); P’08, Sam Brown ’92, president of the Exeter Alumni Association, introduced Woodford by reciting her 13 honorary years in a rapid-fire crescendo, drawing applause from the crowd.

“Your gracious management of reunion weekends and other events on and off campus helped thousands of Exonians strengthen their connections with each other and with the Academy, enabling the school itself to grow stronger year after year,” Brown said, reading from the award citation.

A veteran of the Air National Guard of the U.S. Air Force, Woodford arrived at Exeter in 1987 and spent two years working for the Annual Fund (now known as The Exeter Fund) before moving to a job in the Alumni Relations office, where she was tasked with supporting all of Exeter’s reunion classes. As the department grew, she remained a fixture of the reunion program and managed countless other alumni events on and off campus.

“You loved seeing Exonians of all ages reconnecting with classmates and forging new bonds with people they may not have known as students,” Brown said. “Upon retirement, you were honored with the creation of the Jan Woodford Alumni Reunions Fund, which carries on your commitment to welcoming all alumni to reunions, regardless of finances.”

Woodford was a co-adviser of Exonians with Disabilities, the campus affinity group open to members of the Exeter community who struggle with any form of disability. She also spearheaded the creation of Exeter Salutes, a program launched in 2019 to honor alumni who currently serve or have served in the armed forces and connect them with current students.

“Jan, you always approached your work on behalf of Exeter and Exonians as far more than a job, which helps to explain why you did it so well,” Brown said, before welcoming Woodford to the podium to accept the Founders’ Day Award.

Compassion, integrity and belonging

“I have been fortunate to have had two jobs that I truly loved,” Woodford said. In the Air Force, she explained, she learned that “compassion is not a weakness, it’s a strength.” Along with compassion, the Air Force taught her the importance of integrity, and she brought this understanding of both to her role at the Academy.

“What made Exeter special for me wasn’t just the work, it was the people,” Woodford continued. “Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to work alongside colleagues who supported me, guided me and helped make our work possible.”

She spoke of the impact of H. Hamilton “Hammy” Bissell, a graduate of Exeter’s class of 1929, who taught English at the school for years before becoming its first director of scholarships. “He had an incredible memory for students and alumni, and he took the time to share their stories with me,” Woodford said. “What struck me most wasn’t just what he remembered, but how much he cared.”

Woodford gave thanks to the colleagues from all the different departments with whom she worked on campus, as well as the members of the Alumni Relations office, but she also spoke of the impact of those she didn’t know as well, but whose kindness made her feel like she belonged to a community.

“One of our most powerful human needs is the need to belong,” Woodford said, before addressing the students directly. “Each of you is still figuring out where you fit — in your friendships, your communities, and in the world. But belonging isn’t about changing who you are to be accepted. It’s about finding places where your authentic self is valued.”

She spoke of learning a great deal from the students she worked with in Exonians with Disabilities: “Your energy, your honesty, your questions, and even your doubts reminded me that growth never really stops.”

Near the end of her remarks, Woodford urged students seeking purpose in their career and life to remember that it “doesn’t have to be big or public.”

“It can be found in how you treat people and the problems you choose to solve and in the quiet impact you make every day,” she said. “My time at Exeter gave me that sense of purpose. It allowed me to be part of something that aligned with my values, and for that I will always be grateful.”