Each year, the school community finds itself once again wrapped up in the fever of EA Week. From the daily dress-downs to the form competitions, so much of EA Day is what happens before the main day of competition. Perhaps the most-loved tradition is the EA Day video created by a group of Sixth Form students. The video offers a rallying cry for students across all forms.
It’s no secret that EA Day videos have sparked controversy. In 2021, Jeffery Yang ’22 wrote an article for The Index detailing the community’s ongoing struggle with the topics of gender and sexuality amid the release of that year’s EA Day video. Former College Counselor Ms. Heather Stinson remarked in the article that she found the video “very much read into the portrayal of the EA student as being stereotypically homosexual. With the skipping, the dramatic actions, and the fastidious nature of wearing masks.”
However, many students saw the jokes as just that.
“Our goal was to bring people together as a community, and we would not have put anything in the video unless it was meant to do that,” said a Sixth Former quoted in the article.
Other faculty members shared their concerns about the video’s messaging on permissible jokes
“At the end of the day, what we’re really concerned about is how it’s going to make the boys feel, and what goes through the minds of the boys who see it as funny or don’t see what’s wrong about it,” History Department Chair Ms. Hannah Turlish said in Yang’s article.
While it wasn’t the first time concerns were raised about the video, it was clear from the article that faculty members voiced that they were uncomfortable with what the video had become. Faculty members began to go “in [to Centennial Hall] with my guard up,” as Ms. Stinson put it.
This year, the Sixth Formers tasked with creating the video had a mission statement.
“We wanted to provide and experience that would deepen our brothers’ connection to the school.”
Jack Cimino ’24
“We wanted to provide an experience that would deepen our brothers’ connection to the school,” Sixth Former Jack Cimino said, “and I think we did that.”
The largest portion of the video featured Sixth Form impressions of administrators and faculty. From Connor Nolen’s impression of Head of School Mr. Tyler Casertano, Asa Winikur’s impression of Upper School Dean of Students Mr. Luqman Kolade, and Brady O’Kane’s impression of English Department Chair Mr. Thomas Stambaugh—it felt like the playful jokes about the nature of trusted adults in our community were something everyone could buy in to.
The scene including interviews of EA students strayed from the previously oft-used jokes about EA boys.
“I think kids know what they’re implying when they show gay or less masculine boys as comedy. I think that was part of what faculty were responding to in prior years. I think it’s the easiest joke to make amongst a young group of boys,” English teacher Dr. Micah Del Rosario said. “This year, I didn’t feel that way.”
The contrast in reaction amongst the faculty from years past reached Mr. Kolade.
“The things that are funniest are internal to our community. Jokes amongst our community are what brings us together.”
Mr. Luqman Kolade
“The things that are funniest are internal to our community,” Mr. Kolade said. “Jokes amongst our community are what bring us together.”
Mr. Kolade commented on Student Body President Asa Winikur’s filmed encounter with an EA student at the EA-Hill football game. The EA student asked Winikur to leave, and Winikur responded by satirically rattling off some of Haverford’s virtues.
“Obviously, that’s playing on the Haverford virtues, that’s where the joke lies—not in anything about them,” Mr. Kolade said.
Still, Mr. Kolade highlighted how the process of verifying the video is strenuous.
“I’d probably watched the video about six times before it was ever shown to the broader student body, Mr. Kolade said. “Regardless of what kids initially make, it has to run through a rigorous process, so even if they were making [inappropriate] ‘jokes’ like that, it’d be cut out.”
Increased supervision of what is shown to the upper school has perhaps changed the conversations in the wake of the video’s presentation.
Still, faculty and students feel that the video could become more inclusive towards the entirety of the student body, with an anonymous Sixth Former saying: “I feel like the video still played on some of the typical Haverford stereotypes of Avalon and consumption of alcohol.”
The student was not alone, as Dr. Del Rosario was left believing the video played too much into the jokes of the Sixth Formers who created it. “Some parts of the video seemed like inside jokes.”
Inside jokes are inherently exclusionary, meant only to amuse those “in on the joke.”
Mr. Kolade said, “I told [the guys making the videos], it’s not just for your group of friends—it’s for 400 or some kids—so try to make it where everyone is in on it.”
No matter how students felt about the EA Day video, few in our community felt it created damage in the way past years’ videos had. A welcome change.
