Kelvin Green II

As a co-head of Afro-Latino Exonian Society (ALES), Exeter’s step team (OutKast) and Exeter’s Gospel Choir, a member of Dem Club, Exeter’s MLK Day Committee and the volleyball team and a proctor in the place he calls home–Main Street Hall, Kelvin Green II embodies what it is to be an Exonian, bringing goodness, and knowledge to the Exeter community.

“SYA was a big opportunity I would not have gotten elsewhere,” he said. “The teachers [were] awesome and picking up Mandarin has exposed me to a whole other world that makes me more compassionate and more understanding of different cultures.” Green came to Exeter from Round Rock, Texas as a prep. This fall marks his first time on campus in over a year; he went to China through the Student Year Abroad program (SYA). Though he had never planned on going abroad, a senior in his dorm recommended he apply for the rare opportunity, and he did. In China, Green grew close to his host family and attended school, becoming fluent in the language throughout the course of the year.

“He is a great collaborator ... interested in bringing people together.”

Green’s adviser, religion instructor Russell Weatherspoon, admired Green’s desire to build on his understandings of the world. “He is a person who tries to keep his objectives clearly in mind while trying to become part of activities that can build him and strengthen and broaden his understanding,” Weatherspoon said.

Weatherspoon went on to commend Green’s ability to unite people. “He is a great collaborator ... interested in bringing people together,” Weatherspoon said. “His tone and his desire to draw people together to do challenging things is particularly attractive.”

Green’s passion for rallying of the people has manifested in his role as co-head of ALES. Green joined the club as a prep and became co-head his lower year. “There are so many things on campus we can do to make the community more inclusive of us,” he said.

His lower year, the club held a die in, where students laid on the quad to raise awareness on police brutality, and met with administration about diversifying faculty on campus. This activism inspired him to fully throw himself into the club. “From that moment I was all in. This was what I wanted to be a part of,” he said.

Upper Athena Stenor, another co-head of ALES, described Green’s passion at meetings. “Kelvin is unique in his ability to express and philosophize on the issues that are important to him,” she said. “He's so good at articulating thoughts, but he’s also very humble about it, and he encourages other people to express themselves freely as well.”

She admires Green’s ability to enact change. “He's taught me a lot about being an activist,” she said. “He’s always meeting with people, and he's always working on issues related to social justice.”

Following in this vein, Green explained that he hopes to empower the preps and lowers of color on campus in the coming months. “I think a big goal for me this year is to try to encourage and empower students of color on campus to speak up and go for positions and be the heads of clubs and [not to feel] disadvantaged,” he said.

Green also offers his voice in conversations at the MLK Day Committee, which plans events for Exeter’s annual MLK day and thinks about how to actively make change surrounding issues of racial inequality.

Senior Charis Edwards, another member of the MLK Day Committee, described Green’s excitement about getting the community involved in campus wide conversations. “I admire Kelvin’s consistent dedication to the things he believes in,” she said. “I admire his creativity and open-mindedness to listen to other perspectives, even if they are not necessarily on par with his own.”

Green’s close friend, Ore Solanke, also admired Green’s open-mindedness, which she has seen develop significantly since he came to Exeter. “Just as much as he is willing to tell you what he’s thinking, he is also very open to hearing what your side is, which wasn’t really as obvious prep and lower year. Since then, he has become even more open to other opinions,” she said.

Solanke also noted how interesting it was to hear Green’s thought process. “I’ve noticed that his thoughts/opinions are uniquely his own, and he isn’t easily swayed by public opinion, but rather forms his own arguments,” she said.

In keeping with his socially active nature, Green has been interested in politics since his childhood, and he joined Dem Club as a prep. There, through phone banking, canvassing and engaging in conversation, he has found yet another way to make what he believes in happen.

“I get so passionate, because you’re really constructing the future you want and playing an active part,” he said. “Dem Club presents all these awesome opportunities, so being able to be passionate about all of this and inspiring other people to be involved is awesome.”

Edwards, a co-head of Dem Club, celebrated Green’s contributions to the club. “I really admire the fact that he’s really interested in looking at politics as a way of enacting change, not just social reform,” she said. “He has done a phenomenal job with organizing and campaigning.”

An artist as well as an activist, Green also serves as the co-head of Exeter’s male step team, OutKast, alongside senior Marvin Bennett. He is so important to the club’s success,” Bennett said. “He has had the ideas for many of our steps and is a great guy to work with.”

Green has played varsity volleyball since prep year, and this fall he resurrected Exeter’s Gospel Choir. In addition, he was chosen to be one of Main Street Hall’s proctors.

Upper Francis Baviera Maloney appreciated Green’s dedication to the dorm. “Kelvin is very involved in the dorm. He’s a caring guy, very empathetic with the new people. He’s trustworthy,” Baviera said. “It’s impressive because he was abroad for all of last year, but he still got the position of proctor.” Lower Max Murray agreed, saying simply of Green, “He is a god.”

During his time at Exeter, Green has truly taken advantage of the Harkness style, embracing all the backgrounds and opinions that his fellow Exonians offer.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned at Exeter is the value of diversity and opinion, being at a table talking with different people who come from different parts of the world, different backgrounds,” he said. “By the end, you unearth this understanding that you would not have been able to do on your own. I learned at Exeter how to connect with so many people even though we’re all so different.”

Moving forward, Green hopes to study to be a research scientist or a doctor, two careers he thinks can exist harmoniously with his desire to forge change. “I think that’ll be a really interesting relationship and fluid with my interest in politics and my interest in empowering youth and people of color,” he said.

Undoubtedly, Green will bring his fearless leadership skills with him to college and beyond. “I like offering a new voice and encouraging people to speak up,” he said. “If lots of different people speak up, we can get a more inclusive and understanding environment.”

Senior Livaslou Tanjong, another friend of Green’s, commended Green for his ceaseless work to make the world a better place. “Kelvin also goes out of his way to help others and is constantly attempting to bridge gaps in understanding, whether it is in race or politics,” she said. “Kelvin is extraordinary in his commitment to his community.”