Originally from Everett, MA, Joe O’Donnell ’63 was completing his senior year at Malden Catholic High School when he first heard about Exeter. Joe and his father and football coach were paying a visit to Fred Glimp, then Dean of Admissions at Harvard. “After reviewing my record,” recalls Joe, “Fred looked up at my father and said, ‘He’s a great kid and he’s done well in high school, but if he were my son, I’d send him to Exeter.'” Joe pauses, smiling, “And I said, ‘Exeter...isn’t that a prep school?’ Five days later we were sitting in front of Dean Kesler and Principal Saltonstall, and two weeks after that I was admitted.” O’Donnell was also given a full scholarship, with one caveat—he and his folks would have to come up with $100 for his laundry service.
Joe characterizes his post-graduate year at the Academy as a tremendous experience. “Each day was better than the day before. I met people from all over the world, and I still count among my closest friends many of the people who graduated with me from Exeter.” Favorite teachers included DeVaux de Lancey (French) and William Schwarz (English), and O’Donnell is quick to offer a funny story about the former. “I came out of Malden Catholic with an A in French and had even made the French Honor Roll, so I thought I was prepared. Needless to say, I got a 7 out of 100 on my first quiz. From that point on I worked as hard as I could, every night for two or three hours, but still maintained an E through the whole course. Toward the end of the term, I went to Monsieur de Lancey and asked if there was anything I could do to get my grade up. And he thought for a minute and said, ‘Joe, French is not in your future, but I’ve never seen a kid work any harder, so I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. I’m going to break my standards and give you a D–.' D–, of course, was the passing grade at that time, and I could tell he was so proud of himself. He gave me this big hug.”
Despite his struggles with French, O’Donnell found success around the Harkness table and on the playing fields, earning “Most Valuable Player” honors for baseball in the form of the Dana I. Wingate Award and playing football on an excellent PEA team. He waited tables on campus (standard practice for Academy scholarship students in the 1960s) and to this day remains profoundly grateful for “the vision and generosity and thoughtfulness of people before me that allowed people like me to have a chance at Exeter.” O’Donnell went on to Harvard, where he was also a full scholarship student, and then earned a fellowship to Harvard Business School. “People paid my way all the way through because I couldn’t,” he says frankly. Now, in the spirit of non sibi, Joe is reciprocating. In celebration of his 40th Exeter reunion, he has created a current-use scholarship that is supporting a post-graduate student at the Academy.
 Adam Arsenault ’04 is sitting on a sofa in the periodicals room of the Class of 1945 Library talking about how he came to the Academy. As sweet and thoughtful as he is tall and muscular, Adam says that as a senior at Everett High School (he shares the same hometown as Joe O’Donnell), his college process was not going well. “I’d been offered athletic scholarships to UMASS Amherst and Bentley, but my coach knew I didn’t really want to go.” Adam’s coach happened to be John DiBiaso, Exeter class of 1975, and it was DiBiaso who first encouraged Adam to think about a post-grad year at Exeter. Like O’Donnell, Adam didn’t know much about the Academy; a visit to campus gave him all the insight he needed. “I saw how great it was, and said ‘I want to come.'” But as the third of four children being raised by a single mother, Adam would need significant financial assistance to do so.
It was getting down to the wire, Adam recalls, when he finally received the news that he’ll never forget. He’d been accepted to the Academy for a post-graduate year and had been named an O’Donnell Scholar. Adam would get a full ride to Exeter.
Arriving at PEA in late August 2003, Adam soon distinguished himself as an exceptional linebacker, helping to lead the Academy’s varsity football team to its first undefeated season in decades and earning All New England honors along the way. Academically he is also more than holding his own at a school that he says is a “totally different world” from his hometown high school. “There’s a stress on academics here,” he notes, “It’s cool to be smart. The work load is ten times harder than before, but with less distractions, and Exeter teachers are so supportive.”
Among those whom Adam has befriended are Dick Morante ’72 (Hon.) (classics), whom Adam met through another Everett post-grad, Gennaro Leo ’03; Eric Bergofsky P’98, P’02 (mathematics), who offered to tutor Adam in preparation for his SATs (“I went up 200 points on the math section,” he says proudly.); and Charlie Terry ’28 (Hon.); P’80, P’81 (English), who helped Adam with his writing. Next year Adam will attend Tufts, where he will continue playing football. And while he will not receive an athletic scholarship (NESCAC schools don’t offer them), he says any loans he has to pay off will be worth it, because the college is a great fit for him.
During his time at Exeter, Adam has also developed a special friendship with another member of the Academy family, Joe O’Donnell. When asked about the man whose generosity is making possible his post-grad experience, Adam is all smiles. “I thank Mr. O’Donnell every time I talk to him,” he says, his voice soft and respectful, “but I could really never thank him enough. This scholarship came out of the blue, and now the man who started it is a friend. It’s incredible. He’s a busy guy, you know, but whenever I need advice, I call him, and he always calls me back within a day. He’s a saint.” 
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