For Lawrence Dai ’09 and Eli Grober ’09, the competition between Andover and Exeter extends beyond the sports field. This year’s parody of Exeter’s student newspaper, The Exonian, will not be affiliated with its former publisher, The Phillipian, according to Dai and Grober, the fake Exonian’s Editors in Chief and Features editors at The Phillipian. “We wished we could have worked with [The Phillipian], but we had some disagreements on content and the appropriateness of the content,” said Dai. Cora Lewis ’09, Editor in Chief of The Phillipian, said, “I think the editors of The Exonian had their own vision of what the publication should be. I think they wanted complete editorial control and [The Phillipian] wanted to give it to them.” After hearing a rumor that this year’s edition of The Exonian would not be affiliated with The Phillipian, Rebecca Sykes, Assistant Head of School, arranged a meeting with Dai. “My intent was to raise a concern and say, ‘You should think about the implications of any actions you take,’” Sykes said. She continued, “There was a rumor that The Exonian was being printed by a group outside of The Phillipian and that the reason that it was being done outside was that the intent was to make this year’s Exonian edgier than it had been in the past.” According to Dai and Grober, this year there is no relationship between The Phillipian and The Exonian. “There are no connections whatsoever with the Features section. The Exonian has not influenced our work at The Phillipian in any way,” said Dai. The Features section will still be running its usual two-page spread in this week’s issue of The Phillipian, according to Lewis. “With The Exonian, we’ve really put our own rules and censors in place,” said Dai. “Technically we’re uncensored, but we’ve put in our own morals and ethical measures.” According to Dai and Grober, the guidelines included no libel or personal attacks, and no content that would attack any religious, racial or sexual orientation. “It’s hard to say where the line is,” said Dai. “Some things might offend some people while other people may think it’s fine. It’s a completely subjective kind of issue, and I think we’ve learned a lot about that on our path so far…we’ll see what happens.” Dai and Grober’s names are the only ones on The Exonian masthead. “We take full responsibility for all things published in the fake Exonian,” said Dai. Dai explained a disagreement he and Grober had with The Phillipian over The Exonian’s intended audience. “[The Exonian] shouldn’t necessarily go to parents or alumni or faculty. The type of audience for The Exonian is the students,” said Dai. He said, “A big part of this was that we just wanted to make sure this was free and that all students were able to access this and read it for free.” Two thousand copies of The Exonian will be distributed on Friday. According to Dai, printing The Exonian cost somewhere from $1,300 to $1,400. Funding for the publication came from student, parent and alumni donations, Dai said. Dai also spent one weekend walking around campus collecting donations in a jar labeled “The Exonian.” Dai continued, “People like to laugh and they like to laugh enough to just shell out a couple of bucks.” Emerson Stoldt ’09, Head of Circulation and Publicity for The Phillipian, said that he approached his father for a contribution to the The Exonian when he heard that Dai needed additional funding. According to Stoldt, his father donated $600 to The Exonian. “[My dad] loves humor and wants us to be able to do fun things,” he said. Dai declined to disclose any information about other donors. Dai and Grober began official planning for The Exonian last spring, but both said they have been unofficially preparing for this issue for the past few years. Dai said, “I’ve been planning [The Exonian] since freshman year…I’ve been writing down ideas since I knew it existed.” Dai and Grober explained why they have devoted so much time to this publication. “I just feel like when we put out the Features section every Friday, and I see people laugh at it, I know it sounds cheesy, but it makes me feel good. I like to make people laugh,” said Dai. He continued, “I’m not a Varsity athlete, I don’t get to go out there on the fields and play, so [The Exonian] is our own way of cheering on the teams.” The Eagle Tribune Publishing Company, the same publishing company used by The Phillipian, will print The Exonian. Approximately 10 people have written for The Exonian, according to Dai. Most are current editors on The Phillipian, although Grober said that a former editor of the Features section also contributed to this year’s edition. Whereas The Phillipian was able to offer only a few pages of space for The Exonian insert, Dai and Grober are printing 12 pages of content in their distinct publication. Instead of the broadsheet layout, typical of a standard large-sized newspaper, Dai and Grober were interested in publishing a tabloid. Nina Scott, Instructor in English and Advisor to The Phillipian, explained that Dai and Grober wanted more editorial control over the content of their publication. She said, “I do expect that their sensibility, while not conservative, will be acceptable.” Grober said, “Everything we do is witty and it’s still satire. We’re really not out to offend anyone…except possibly Exeter.”
