The SLDC Experience

By Annie Krol, Hawken senior We left on a cold Wednesday morning. The six of us included our head chaperone, Mr. Cleminshaw, as well as five students: Seniors Annie Krol and Rebecca Evans, junior Terrence Embry, and sophomores Kelynn Carter and Montreaux Rogers. Our purpose was to come to the Student Diversity Leadership conference, to gather among 1300 other students across the country from other independent schools belonging to the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) to discuss pressing issues of diversity, acceptance, and building a strong school community. Landing in Boston Wednesday morning, we headed to check into the hotel, and then sign in at the conference location, the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. After doing so, our group decided to travel through bits and pieces of Boston`s historical sites. We took the T, Boston`s underground subway system, to the southern side of the Boston Commons, where the "Freedom Trail" begins. Stopping for a map and a small guidebook, we then headed off in the direction of old meeting houses, centuries-old churches, and most interestingly, the graveyard containing the remains of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Ben Franklin`s parents, the victims of the Boston Massacre, and Mother Goose. After steeping ourselves in Boston history, we headed back for the hotel to prepare and rest for the conference to begin the following day. Overall, Hawken`s student experience at SDLC was enriching and rewarding for the five of us. After the opening ceremonies on Thursday morning, the 1300 of us were broken up into smaller groups, called cities, families, and homes. Within these groups, we were given the "community norms", or the rules and guidelines of this conference. We also discussed the core cultural identifiers, or the big eight, which are ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status or class. In home groups of about eight people, we discussed past experiences of witnessing or receiving prejudice from other people because we were somehow a minority when identifying ourselves using the big eight. The purpose of these discussions and activities were to get to know one another, find common experiences that we shared, and to strategize as to how we can bring ideas of acceptance to less open-minded people in our school community back home. We also each spent time in affinity groups based on our race and sexual orientation. The students from Hawken attended the breakout sessions for the African-American group, the Multiracial group, the European-American group, and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning peoples group (GLBTQ). The main goals of these groups was to create a safe space where people who have similar identities can explore and discuss ideas of how to educate those who are prejudiced or ignorant of those of a different race or sexual orientation. There were also activities meant to help banish negativity, keep people`s spirits high, and force the students to get to know one another and be comfortable in their surroundings. From then on, we worked on our own agendas, lists of knowledge and eye-opening activities and proposals to bring back to our schools. After a Quaker Meeting and a student dance on Friday night, as well as hearing from keynote speakers such as Kip Fulbeck, Asian multiracial activist and movie-maker, and Maria Hinojosa, Latina journalist and mother, the Hawken group of both students and adults (including George Long, Wes Wilson, Jane Botella, Rosalinda Bolanos and Andrew Cleminshaw) that had attended the People of Color Conference (PoCC) were both sad to leave as well as eager to bring back new ideas and proposals of incorporating diversity work and ideals of acceptance back to share with the Hawken community.