In early December, Cultural Alliance Heads Jasmine Powell ’24, Kritika Aryal ’24, Oliver El Hadj ’24, and Sydney Senerchia ’24 traveled to St. Louis, Missouri. They attended the National Association of Independent Schools Student Diversity Leadership Conference, an annual gathering of student leaders from across the country who come together to self-reflect and build connections. Two faculty chaperones Ms. Shannon Jin and Ms. Lizzie Phan attended the NAIS Person of Color Conference, a space for educators of color to develop, share, and network with others of diverse backgrounds. In total, the conference represented thousands of individuals from schools all across the United States.
Throughout the four days of SDLC, students listened to speakers such as Dr. Omékongo, a poet, rapper, and international speaker on international communications; and Dr. Gholdy Muhammed, author of Unearthing Joy. Students were placed into affinity groups, where they discussed with peers how to break the gap of exclusion in society.
During SDLC, students were also split into “family groups” to explore different topics around diversity. These groups allowed students to talk with a smaller audience about sometimes difficult subjects they otherwise wouldn’t have discussed. “After the Supreme Court decision was made, I had never sat down and talked about it with a group of people,” said Kritika Aryal ’24 from a group discussion about affirmative action. “We never talked about it at Groton, and it was interesting because everyone was from different states and all brought different perspectives.”
This diversity of opinions presented at the conference allowed students to recognize perspectives different from their own. Students acknowledged that the experience of engaging with new perspectives molded, and sometimes challenged, their own understanding. “We have a lot of conversations at Groton about diversity and inclusion, but we never get to hear what other schools think,” said Sydney Senerchia ‘24.
Ms. Jin expressed that the discussions at POCC helped her feel empowered by her identity. In today’s world, she explained, especially with the rise of cancel culture, people can live in constant fear of saying something that may offend another, even if it seems innocuous. However, POCC gave Ms. Jin and other faculty members the opportunity to have bold conversations. “When I heard others share their own struggles, I could relate to them,” said Ms. Jin. “I was shocked by how courageous they were and that made me feel brave enough to share my own experiences.”
As the event went on, Cultural Alliance heads realized the conference provided a different environment from the Circle by focusing on difficult topics around diversity, which helped students share their own opinions. Jasmine Powell ’24 expressed she was grateful for such an environment, acknowledging that “due to Groton’s small size, we often don’t have access to every background. Diversity was something important to everyone at the conference.” She also added that “It was meaningful to me that everyone had the mindset of learning something from other people.”
After attending SDLC conference, the four students all acknowledged the great steps that Groton has taken to create a welcoming and open environment and expressed how fortunate we are to have a diverse background. “SDLC felt like a community gathering at Groton,” said Jasmine. “The fact that Groton’s community gatherings have only started recently and they already parallel those of SDLC points towards the progress that we have made.”
