Longtime educator and advocate chosen for Phillips Award

Exeter’s Trustees have chosen to award the 2025 John and Elizabeth Phillips Award to James R.W. “Wick” Sloane ’71; P’03. Over decades of work in higher education, writing and activism, Sloane has channeled his passion and commitment into efforts to improve the lives of college students, particularly low-income students and veterans.

The John and Elizabeth Phillips Award recognizes an Exonian whose life and contributions to the welfare of community, country or humanity exemplify the nobility of character that the founders sought to promote in establishing the Academy. 

From 2006 to his retirement in 2019, Sloane held many roles at Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) in Massachusetts, including adjunct faculty member for expository writing, manager of the emergency assistance fund and an advisor for students transferring to four-year colleges. Largely thanks to his efforts, BHCC saw its first-ever students enroll at and graduate from top colleges and universities including Dartmouth, Amherst, Yale, Harvard and MIT.

As a regular contributor to Inside Higher Ed, Sloane has drawn attention to homelessness, hunger and other issues facing low-income students, and advocated for greater access to higher education for veterans. In one particularly high profile example, Sloane addressed then-President Barack Obama in a 2013 op-ed entitled “Missing from Your College Plan: 45 Million Peanut Butter Sandwiches. Per Week.” His work has raised significant national awareness about food insecurity and has resulted in the introduction of recent legislation both locally and federally.

Prior to his work at BHCC, Sloane worked in various positions at Aetna Life and Casualty and as chief financial officer for the University of Hawaii system, where he discovered and fell in love with community colleges and their students. He also worked as a reporter in New Bedford, Massachusetts; Easton, Pennsylvania; and West Hartford, Connecticut, where he won election to the school board.

In 2017, Sloane was awarded the Manuel Carballo Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Service, which recognizes employees of the state of Massachusetts who selflessly reflect a deep commitment to serving the people of the Commonwealth and exemplify the highest standards of public service.

Sloane will receive the John and Elizabeth Phillips Award and speak during assembly on October 24.