Students and Staff Attend Conferences on Diversity
This fall a handful of Upper School students and staff journeyed to the National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference (for adults) and the simultaneous Student Diversity Leadership Conference (for students) in Seattle, Washington, with the goal of becoming better allies and community members. Students were chosen to attend based on an application and essay.
For the white Principians who went, being in the minority was a new experience. Dean of Girls Jennifer Dale explains that her biggest shift in thought during the conference occurred when she realized, “Everything in my world defaults to the culture I grew up in; I’ve been the norm.”
Junior Kaya Equevilley expressed a similar sentiment after hearing students of color speak about never having felt as safe as they did at the conference and wishing they didn’t have to return to their schools. Kaya explains, “That’s when it clicked in my head, ‘Wow, this space is so meaningful for some people.’” She goes on to explain that whites “were the minority while we were there. It was interesting to experience that.” Having the opportunity to discover what it feels like not to be in the majority was eye-opening and showed the white attendees how, as allies, they can learn when to support by creating spaces where people of color have agency and power—and then stepping aside.
After a conference full of learning, the group came back to St. Louis with new perspectives and new ideas about how to better serve Principia and the broader community. The students led a chapel the week before Martin Luther King Jr. Day with the goal of opening doors to more honest discussions about race. During the chapel, they laid out definitions of key terms, including ally, stereotypes, prejudice, and internalized oppression, and noted how some of these terms intersect. They explained, for example, that stereotypes form the basis of our prejudices. They also discussed the role of allies and encouraged all Principians to think about the little ways—in thought, speech, or action—they may be contributing to a cycle of oppression.
There is always room to become a better ally and a more supportive community. Opportunities to go to conferences like the ones in Seattle benefit not only those who attend but the community they return to. Kaya sums it up well, “People should take more chances and go for these opportunities.”