Around the Table
Exeter Honors Susan Herney with Founder’s Day Award
F
DAN COURTER
or portions of five decades, Susan Herney ’69, ’74, ’83 (Hon.) served
Exeter as a leading voice for inclusion and an advocate for change. In recognition of her lifetime of service to Exeter, Herney received the 2013 Founder’s Day Award at a special assembly on May 17. During her 19 years in the Dean of Students Office (1972–91), Herney advocated for female students and faculty, pushed for cultural inclusivity and helped smooth Exeter’s transition to coeducation. When she became Exeter’s first female dean of students in 1985, Herney instituted training on adolescent development for faculty and programs to support students who struggled academically or socially. Her actions helped guide Exeter’s shift in the 1970s and ’80s from an austere institution to a nurturing school that sought to educate and prepare the whole student. In the Dean of Students Office and as the head of five dorms, Herney became known as a role model who held students to high standards of behavior, yet did everything with a sense of kindness and compassion that touched the lives of many. Always willing to serve, Herney took on other leadership Watch the positions after concluding her term as dean. In a seven-year Founder’s Day Award assembly stint with the Office of Alumni Affairs and Development, and read Herney’s Herney built the Academy’s stewardship program and overfull remarks at saw the use of hundreds of Exeter’s endowed funds. In 1998, www.exeter.edu/ she moved to Admissions as associate director and expanded bulletinextras. Exeter’s travel program in an effort to attract students from more diverse backgrounds. During her career, Herney worked continually to build up others. In seeking to enhance the status of women, adding warmth to the rigorous academic life, stewarding gifts to the Academy, and searching out talented students “from every quarter,” Herney exemplified the spirit of non sibi in every position she held.
Baseball Dugouts Named in Honor of Bill Dennehy
COURTESY FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Retiring head coach’s 42 years reflected in tribute It rained hard enough on May 25 to postpone the baseball game between Exeter and Andover during E/A weekend. (Exeter would go on to beat Big Blue 6-2 the following Wednesday.) But the weather didn’t stop students, alumni, and family and friends of Physical Education Instructor Bill Dennehy P’90, P’92 from gathering in the Cage to celebrate his 42 years at the Academy. Dennehy was honored at a dedication ceremony that formally named the new baseball dugouts located in the adjacent field as the “Dennehy Dugouts.” Dennehy, who also coached boys varsity hockey and soccer for many years, retired at the end of the academic
year, closing out his final baseball season as head coach with a 13-7 record and his varsity team as quarterfinalists in the Central New England Prep School Baseball Championship. Reflecting on his tenure, Dennehy says, “To be so involved managing and coaching, it’s always been exciting. I love it. It’s that fun of being in a chess match: being patient, yet also being ready to go.” A Wiffle ball game held in the Cage following the dedication was enjoyed by Dennehy, a coach who—as the new dugouts’ signs note—“mentored and inspired Big Red athletes” for more than four decades.
SUMMER 2013
The Exeter Bulletin
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