Hi, I am a asian/white mixed girl entering Exeter as a prep next year. I am thinking about becoming more politically active during high school, but can’t seem to find much information about the political organizations/clubs at Exeter. What is it like being in a political club? Do people treat you better/worse depending on the political club you are in? What are the advantages/disadvantages of being in a political club? What political events/conferences do you visit? I would be very happy if anyone who has/is at Exeter could answer these questions! Thanks!
This answer really depends on which side of the fence you stand. Currently Exeter is very politically charged on one side of the fence. If you stand on the other side you off and just keep your head down
Exeter is in NH, so it is a great place to be when there is a presidential election. ALL of the candidates will be spending lots of time there. Could be a terrific opportunity for someone who cares about politics!
Exeter has both partisan and nonpartisan political organizations, but while there are clubs for both parties, my impression is that the school does tend to lean very strongly in one direction.
NH is a purple state overall, and there are lots of opportunities afforded by the first-in-the-nation primaries and midterms; additionally, because NH is a small state with a large legislature, there are plenty of state-level changes to get involved.
There are many opportunities to become involved at Exeter around social issues. Not as much focused on traditional political parties- but plenty of great causes to suppprt.
https://www.exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Exeter-Club-Descriptions-Fall-2017.pdf
if you are not a hard left liberal you will need to keep quiet–any divergent opinion wont be tolerated by most students or faculty.
@Center OOF.
That seems a little unfortunate for a school that’s all about dialogue and seeing new perspectives . . . I would consider myself a liberal, but that degree of lack of open-mindedness politically is a bit concerning, regardless of whom it’s directed at. Is it a major enough issue that any steps have been taken to deal with it?
Like anything, consider the source on opinions.
Hello! I don’t know about others who have shared their opinions in this chat, but I am a current Exeter student (I will be a senior this upcoming school year). Many students are very active in the political scene on campus, including many of my close friends and I, and while I would agree that there tend to be more liberal voices active on campus, I definitely would NOT agree with statements that any other political opinion is squashed on campus. I think the best way to illustrate the political diversity on campus is to talk about the different political clubs. Yes, we have the traditional Democrat and Republican clubs, but both of those groups meet with one another for discussion and joint events through the Exeter Political Union (chaired by members of both the Democrat and Republican clubs). There are also plenty of other political clubs that don’t focus on your particular party, like the Political Humor club. Beyond clubs, though, I will be the first to say that I have never seen political preferences impact student relationships. While I will admit that plenty of my friends are liberal women, I also have many friends who would call themselves Republicans, and it makes no difference in our everyday lives.
Moving away from the political dynamics on campus, as many have mentioned previously, NH is a ‘purple’ state. Oftentimes political campaigns have centers set up in town, and plenty of rallies and meetings come through town hall (a short walk from campus) and nearby places like Manchester and UNH, which the school is always happy to arrange transportation for. It’s especially exciting that you’re entering Exeter as a prep- with four years ahead of you, you know that at some point during your Exeter career, you’ll be in NH for a presidential election! Of course, there are plenty of other ways to get involved politically in town on smaller scales, but I found this to be particularly exciting when I started as a prep. Anyways, I hope this helped, and I hope to see you on campus next year!
Look, let me keep it frank, most of the campus is liberal. We had, at least 13 rallies against certain right wing policies/ideals. The assembly speaker is generally neutral, but if they are coming for political reasons, its usually a liberal. When Trump got elected, the school kinda went into panic mode for the day. I do feel like there is a “mob mentality” in a sense where its “Part of us or against us.”
There are political clubs, like Dem club and Rep club. Let me give you the honest breakdown.
Dem club: Go around in a circle and explain why Republican IDEALS are trash. Nod head
Rep club: You meet in the upstairs area of Elm Dinning Hall and its essentially a screaming match. People bang forks and cups to get a chance to scream at one another. Of course I am using hyperbole, but in my personal opinion, you have 15 kids and 2 teachers in the room, but in reality, its a 4 person kinda chat.
@RChen006 Wow, that is certainly eye opening and worth considering for each and every student regardless of their political bent or interests.