Thacher School Survivors’ First-Hand Accounts Offer Glimpse Into Systemically Toxic Culture

Jun 28, 2021

Only a few days after the loathsome Thacher School Committee Report emerged – uncovering four decades of sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, physical abuse, and abuse of power by administrators and faculty members – countless first-hand allegations from former students have come to light.

An Instagram page created by anonymous Thacher student survivors – @rpecultureatthacher (signifying ‘rape culture at Thacher’) – offers graphic accounts of wanton sexual violence. Said behavior allegedly occurred unchecked, in many cases as an open secret, for 40 years at the elite boarding school. The Instagram page indicates it was established to create a safe space for those who have experienced rape culture at Thacher.

To better understand the scope of the abuse outlined in the report, we reviewed several of the Instagram posts. Although there were dozens, we attempted to thoroughly peruse as many posts as possible, searching for varying examples that would construct a full picture for readers. Below we’ve included some of the first-hand accounts posted by survivors, hoping to provide insight into the systemic and toxic culture of abuse that reportedly occurred at Thacher.

According to the Committee Report, said abuse took place without significant repercussions of any kind being handed down by Thacher’s Board, administrators, or faculty members. While the very students whom the institution had a responsibility to protect were being knowingly abused on a repeated basis, neither the students nor the faculty accused of committing those crimes were, it appears, subjected to any form of discipline.

In many cases, Thacher’s inaction seemed to only further such unspeakable behaviors by sexual predators who doubled as students and faculty members. In one of the Instagram posts, a Thacher student contextualized the level of inaction relative to an individual sexual predator:

“The faculty are supposed [to] act as our parents. They are supposed to protect us. The administration was told countless times, by both faculty and students alike, about the harm this boy was causing. They did nothing. So many children got hurt, some permanently traumatized. We were kids. You were the adults. How can you hold students to standards that you do not uphold yourselves? And do not lie about not knowing about what was going on, or only care now because you are being called out on a public platform you cannot ignore,” the student wrote.

Below we’ve featured some additional Instagram posts from Thacher survivors, as well as some comments from concerned parents and students (both current and former), community members, and even anonymous strangers.

Some of the first-hand survivor accounts included below, it should be noted, discuss sensitive and potentially triggering topics such as rape and sexual abuse. They are being reposted in an effort to provide context into the Thacher student experience. The posts below have not been altered in any way and are provided exactly as they appear on the Instagram page.