AN ASSAULT ON OUR OPEN SOCIETY

A Temple for the Open Society

EDITORIAL NOTE: this is adapted from an email sent to the General Alumni Association Directors on the eve of the start of "virtual" Exeter Leadership Week. 

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Louis Kahn's design concept for the Academy  library is radical. The "open stacks" are truly open.The grand staircase at the entrance lacks a security chokepoint. This free access is a fundamental departure from other libraries. It serves as a symbol of what we treasure most: an expression of our fearless, courageous insistence that freedom of inquiry is the best "defense of the open society against its enemies."

In the transition to digital, Exeter had been demonstrating leadership in carrying this profound belief forward. Three years ago, the newly digitized archives of The Exonian, the "oldest continuous preparatory school newspaper in America," went online. The school afforded "free browsing access to the entire archive" with minimal restrictions.  

Now, alumni have been locked out. What's happening here? 

The Fall 2017 library newsletter focused on this extraordinary asset for the community:

The Exonian is an invaluable historical resource for the history of our school, and indeed for the history of secondary education. Until now, access to back issues has been limited to fragile bound volumes in the Academy Archives, but we are now happy to announce that the entire run of the newspaper, back to volume 1, issue 1 of April 6, 1878, is available online at archive.theexonian.com!

Visitors to the site will be able to search and browse the entire historical archive of the newspaper, and clip and save articles as images or text. We invite you to explore the length and breadth of Academy history from the student’s perspective...

Since the launch, many have utilized the archive. You can find numerous alumni postings on social media that link to it (for example, this posting in the "Exonians" Facebook group). The Exonian archive should have been recognized as a signal success in the emerging digital paradigm. While some wonder if the Internet has made the library an expensive anachronism, this created opportunities and occasions for community engagement.

Now, alumni have been locked out.  What's happening here?    

The Digital Scholia

From the beginning, I wondered about ways to take advantage of this digital reboot. After conversations with Peter Nelson, the now-departed Academy Archivist, I realized how we could use the new capabilities to capture informal knowledge/social history.  

I should mention that during the Dot Com era, I wrote extensively about the "New Media" for numerous "old" media trade publications." The first flowering of the World Wide Web gave me the chance to rethink human communication. The digitization of the Exonian archives was an opportunity to put this experience to use.

There's really nothing completely new about "New Media." Email, for example, is simply the oldest electronic medium, telegraphy, grafted onto the IP-infrastructure. Of course, that sparked a revolution. What inspired me here is the phenomena of "scholia" in ancient literature. These are the marginal notes that explain arcane, obscure details that explain the text. This came to mind as I discovered the notation capabilities the digital service provider built into their newspaper system.   

The idea - that Peter's departure left unfulfilled - was for a project that could engage every alumni Exonian editor, writer and photographer. There's a treasure trove of Academy history ungathered in the memories of anyone who has worked on The Exonian.  We could gather alumni Exonian staff online to add their recollections to the collection. We could preserve the stories behind the stories.  

As the archive went online in 2017, I tested the waters. But we never managed to properly organize it.  Still, it should be easy to network through the alumni editors to create an occasion/event to gather alumni. It would be like the Wikipedia "edit-a-thon" the library hosted not long ago.  

A Roadblock on the Digital Superhighway

Locked out of our own property

Suddenly, this is no longer possible. 

 Last week, I went to the archive to look for a news item. I discovered that alumni are now "outsiders" locked out of content less than 75 years old. You can see for yourself with this link to the graduation issue my senior year.

I immediately contacted those in charge to ask what was the situation. My email exchange with the Academy's new Head of Archives and Special Collections and the Academy's Librarian is troubling. They seemed hesitant to acknowledge what has happened. Instead, they insisted that "this 75 year restriction has been in place since the Trustees made it so in the 1980’s." 

After pressing the point, they still would not acknowledge there's been a change. However, there is a process for gaining limited access at their discretion. "If there is a specific article that you wrote or that any other alum has written that they cannot get access to they can submit the request through the online request tool and we can help them get access to it."

So much for the dream of the internet creating broad-based engagement.  

Oh, and these new restrictions extend beyond the digital archive. We are now locked out of the microfilm and print copies that used to be "open stack" in the library basement.

What makes this even more troubling is that the Academy does not own the copyright on these materials. The alumni who created them do. So we are now locked out from our own property and must ask permission to (hopefully) be allowed access.  

Appropriate Access - Insiders vs. Outsiders

That being said, I also fully understand and appreciate a serious evaluation of the privacy issues. I was on the faculty during the arrest and conviction of a colleague in '92. I vividly remember the change in access to PEANs. Prior, they were open access in the reference section of the library. But as reporters began to snoop around, the yearbooks were moved into the library offices where they remain now - available by request.

Nothing changes till you change it

The original policy for these digital archives (which was still posted - and immediately changed once I sent the link to library staff) seemed inadequate. Anyone, anywhere could access. Only the search function was disabled for content newer than 75 years. Now, this limitation has been extended so that there's a wall that excludes alumni. 

The proper boundary, I would suggest, is that alumni be allowed unfettered access while limiting outsiders to the community. That should be easy to implement. The security system for the alumni database is the obvious model to follow. If you are allowed access to that, you should be able to access The Exonian archives - and other such content.

Finally, let's be clear about one thing. I have no desire to put the library staff serving my alma mater on-the-spot. These are professionals normally committed to expanding access. It seems obvious that they have received directives counter to that. They are not the problem. 

An Academy Principal lacking academic principles?  

The reason for shutting out alumni isn't too hard to guess.

We await a public trial following the recent arrest of a former faculty member for crimes allegedly committed on campus. Likewise, the ongoing struggle to achieve truth and reconciliation in the school's mismanagement of campus sexual assault threatens to boil over.

In short, the Academy's current leadership is under duress. Their response? Violate a core value of our academic community.  

How is that possible?

For the first time in the modern era, Exeter's Principal Instructor has no significant professional academic credentials. Is it any surprise that he operates under other values?  

All this leaves us with a few questions:

What is hidden in the archives that would motivate the current leadership to sacrifice our core commitment to open inquiry? What do they want to keep under wraps?

What does this example teach our students at a critical moment in our democracy?

Finally, if this is about image and reputation, then there's a more fundamental question. Is this an academic institution, or has it become a prosperity cult? 

The current leadership's focus on material success and maintaining appearances is telling. Who are the role models offered?  It has been a long time since new buildings on campus were named for educators who devoted their lives to the institution. Why don't we have the B. Rodney Marriott Performing Arts Center?  Because we now glorify those who have amassed significant fortunes instead. Are their donations a testament to a commitment to Non Sibi selflessness, or are they building monuments to mark their self-full success (while receiving a hefty tax-deduction)?   

Larry David, the preeminent philosopher of our times, has reflected deeply on this:

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