Our History
The Big Red Legacy: From Newport to Portsmouth
Big Red Portsmouth 2026 is the latest gathering of Exonians of this kind, and it has very deep roots—all the way back to 1997, when representatives of Exeter's Classes of 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968 (the "Big Red Classes") gathered in Newport, RI, at the invitation of the Class of 1967 to plan a new type of Exeter gathering.
Thanks to the generosity of our host Dan Kinder '67, we had the run of many facilities at the Newport Annex of the New York Yacht Club, including its dining facilities, bars and guest rooms. In those splendid surroundings, we were free to reconnect, socialize, reminisce, plan and—yes—drink alcohol.
A New Vision for Gathering
The underlying concept that motivated many of us to attend this first Big Red Planning Session was that, although PEA's 5-year gathering program does a great job of bringing each class together on campus every five years and keeping them well informed of how the Academy is developing and changing, there was (in 1997) no existing program that brought Exonians together who, although they had built strong bonds of friendship and common experience at the Academy with many other Exonians, didn't happen to graduate in the same calendar year with many of them.
Classes that graduated in the mid and late 1960s found that by relying upon the Academy campus repeatedly as the only venue for bringing Exonians back together after graduation tended to discourage many classmates from attending their 5-year gatherings because of travel and family logistics. Perhaps a larger barrier to attendance for many of us "disaffected" Exonians of the '60s was that many of our friends dreaded returning to the scene of so many emotional challenges in that "sink or swim" era, when having a robust counseling service like the Exeter of today, just was unthinkable.
The Big Red Easy is Born
The Big Red planners in Newport came to a consensus that New Orleans would provide a perfect venue for such an innovative way to draw Exonians back together for a fun, enjoyable, multi-class, off-campus gathering. The ever-clever Mier Ribalow '66 came up with the handle "Big Red Easy," and it stuck. The concept of organizing a gathering of Exonians in New Orleans was also inspired, in part, by the Class of 1943 who had recently staged a very successful "mini-gathering" there. The Big Red planners also decided to select an "off-year" for this gathering, to avoid competing with the attendance at our four classes' regularly scheduled 5-year gatherings.
Our Guiding Principles
Believe it or not, we did have a few rules. Most important was that no PEA fundraising would be allowed. We Big Red planners were exclusively focused on "friend-raising." However, if that "friend-raising" in New Orleans led to renewed bonds and positive feelings towards PEA among other Big Red Exonians, and if donations to the Academy were to increase as a by-product, we were fine with that.
In the same spirit, we created a confidential financial assistance program whereby some Big Red Exonians agreed to donate their frequent-flyer miles to other Big Red Exonians who needed supplemental financial assistance to make it feasible for them to attend the Big Red Easy.
According to PEA's "official" attendance roster, which was prepared by Jan Woodford, at least 95 Exonians and their significant others attended the Big Red Easy in 1999.
A Continuing Tradition
Big Red Easy was so successful that it was followed by a sequence of similar Big Red gatherings in many different locations, including: Los Angeles, Maui, Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.
"Welcome to Big Red Portsmouth 2026!"
