News

Local Teens Throw Egg at PA Junior

A group of unidentified teenagers hurled an egg at a Phillips Academy Junior girl last Saturday, marking the second reported case of harassment in the last two weeks. The Junior said that she was hit Saturday afternoon, while walking between the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library and the Great Lawn. “I was with a bunch of my friends when I felt something hit me on the back of my neck,” she said. “I reached back and felt something gooey.” “A group of about four or five guys had thrown an egg at me and ran back into town as soon as I turned around to look at them,” she continued. The Junior said that some of her companions unsuccessfully chased after the group of boys after the egg was thrown. Once her friends had given up, she called the Phillips Academy Public Safety department (PAPS) to report the incident. This is the second reported case of harassment between local teenagers and PA students in the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, an unidentified group of local teenagers threw a rock at two Phillips Academy Lower boys and made a racist comment toward one of the students, as previously reported in The Phillipian. Thomas Conlon, Director of Public Safety, said, “The [Andover] Police talked with the perpetrators and their parents and let it be known to [the boys] that if there were any more instances of [harassment] they would pursue legal recourse.” “[The officers] told the kids involved that if they were found on the Phillips Academy campus they would be considered trespassing on private property. It was basically a verbal ‘no trespassing’ notice,” Conlon continued. Murphy said, “I know that after the last incident the Andover Police have been making more rounds more commonly along Bartlett Street and Main Street. [The police] don’t want a repeat.” Paul Murphy, Dean of Students and Residential Life, said, that harrassment has “certainly increased this year.” This year’s increase in tension may just be a coincidence and that the Andover community has faced similar harassment situations in past years, he added. Conlon said that confrontations between local teenagers and PA students first began five years ago and has occurred intermittently since then. “There are periods in time when tension between local kids and PA students is more common than other times. It seems to be more frequent in the beginning of the school year when the PA kids return from summer break,” said Conlon. “There’s a perception among some of the [local high school] students that everyone here is a rich, intellectual snob and that the Phillips Academy kids are granted everything. The [local students] don’t realize the work and sacrifice that the Phillips students make. I think if [local students] were more aware of the entire situation there would be more acceptance,” Conlon continued. “The problem is that we have a very wide, open campus and there’s not one person who has an obvious solution to the problem. We could easily live in a place where this happens every day,” Murphy said. “On any given Saturday night it’s hard to tell [which kids] go to Andover and [which kids] don’t. The students probably know more often than the faculty do. PAPS is unbelievable and all the students are safe under their watch, but if they’re not at the right place at the right time, they’re not going to see [incidents] happen.”