BY Ingrid Yeung ‘23
Since it created its Diversity Statement, St. Mark’s School has been striving to emphasize the importance of diversity and respect for all regardless of “sex, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, ability, family structure or economic background.” In this chaotic year of the pandemic and all the identity movements happening worldwide, our school’s Community and Equity (C&E) initiatives have continued to work for diversity, equity and inclusion. Faculty and students worked hard throughout this year, whether remotely or on campus, to continue creating a safe, welcoming space for all St. Mark’s students. The Pathways prefects and affinity group leaders have stepped up to take up an essential part of responsibilities for combating racism and supporting the students.
To fully appreciate the present state of Community and Equity at St. Mark’s, it is essential to understand the development of the Community and Equity Committee, Pathways, and affinity groups throughout the years. Around ten years ago (2010-2011), when ideas of diversity and equity were not as well voiced in the community as they are now, the Pathways program first emerged. Pathways was first created to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for BIPOC students. It changed orientation to include time for students and families who were new to boarding school to acclimate better. In 2011-2012, Mr. Warren officially established a position for director of C&E. The affinity groups were initiated while the first C&E director, Ms. Archibald, was in place. After that, students became much more involved in Pathways and affinity groups and over the years the Pathways’ program has developed to be much more student-oriented and student-centered for everyone.
Under the directorship of Ms.Adams and Ms. Zhu, Community and Equity and the Pathways affinity groups continued to evolve and played a much more significant role in the St. Mark’s community. The creation of Umoja, the Unity day, and the further strengthening of affinity groups have all contributed to St. Mark’s becoming a more diverse and inclusive community. The progression of C&E in St. Mark’s is impressive. Its focus over time has evolved as it has developed from a program for orientation to a program that empowers students of all backgrounds and bonds the community together. The continuous progress of C&E and Pathways allows us to further understand the progress and advancements this year in Pathways and the creation of the Anti-racism Task Force.
Pathways has always served an essential role in guiding St. Markers and creating safe spaces for all students in this community. It is a student-led and student-oriented diversity program that allows students of franchised identity to come together and celebrate their shared identities and serve those who need it the most. Now, there are multiple affinity groups, the groups and leaders are equipped with the ability to voice their own identities and call for change within and beyond our community.
The Pathways prefects have also proposed the antiracism petition. Pathways and affinity groups have always been active in voicing the identity of minority groups and standing in the front in the combat against racism, but, at the same time, Pathways was never intended to put any “obligation” on all students to restructure any systems or educate the whole community. The primary purpose of the program is to create a safe space and enable students to develop the ability to react to incidents through practicing conversations. There are no magical curricula or structural changes in the system that would automatically eliminate bias-based acts or incidents in the community. Going to affinity group meetings and practicing conversations regarding sensitive topics on identities can empower students. Specifically, it has been challenging for all the pathways groups to have regular meetings in this current year and provide a comfortable space for students who shared one identity. The topics discussed in the affinity groups meeting have also shifted due to the current world events. However, all affinity group leaders have been as creative as they can to provide the students with an experience similar to those at school. On an administrative level, the Pathways prefects have been sitting on the Anti-racism task force and holding check-in meetings with Dr. Daves and Mr. Warren regarding the petition and the C&E programs continue to improve and evolve even in this harsh and hybrid learning environment.
The Anti-Racism task force is a new addition to our school Community and Equity efforts this year, dedicated explicitly to making St. Mark’s an antiracist school. There are four quadrants to this task force, and each serves a different purpose, whether academic, communication, or student experience-oriented, but all working together towards the same goal. Constituency and Engagement, Student Experience, Teaching and Learning, and Professional Development are the four groups that make up the whole task force. The constituency and engagement quadrant helps both communication and dialogue from BIPOC and white alumni to the board and some internal engagement and communication. Ms. Christina Paul, Dr. John Daves, and Ms. Starry Zhu are all in this quadrant responsible for the incident reports. The St. Mark’s Bias-Based Incidents Report form created this year allows the student to report any bias-based incident or offense that they might have experienced. This incident report system allows students to feel more protected in the school community. The student experience quadrant is about enabling the student to learn how to learn outside the classroom and consider the unscripted learning experiences. Moreover, the teacher and learning quadrant is more responsible for the teacher to know how to teach social identity, social justice, and inclusion in the classroom. Then, the professional development focuses on making sure people within the community can talk about their social identities through windows and mirrors and second sight. Each quadrant works with senior administrators to better ensure the steps to take to move towards our goals and begin to take live actions. With all those four quadrants acting together, the whole school community is able to become more self-aware from a social justice standpoint in understanding what it means to be an antiracist school.
St. Mark’s has seen significant development in Community and Equity and antiracism in the past year and will continuously work to become a truly antiracist school. With several components working together, whether the student-led and oriented Pathways program or the Anti-racism task force that involves both the students, faculties, and Board of Trustees, St. Mark’s has started its first series of actions in constructing a genuinely inclusive community. Guided by the ideas of learning how to learn, windows and mirrors, second sights, the C&E program will enable students to speak their own social identities and voice for social justice. And while St. Mark is on its way to becoming a truly antiracist school, Pathways is always dedicated to creating a safe space and an environment for students to be comfortable and bond with students with their shared identities. No matter how the programs advance, C&E is always a program serving students at-need and supporting students of all backgrounds.
Special thanks to Dr. Heather Harwood, Ms. Starry Zhu, and Dr. John Daves