Anti-Racist Sessions to Continue
By Moksha Akil, Anna Kim, Tenley Nelson, Ellie Ana Sperantsas and Hansi Zhu
Racial Residential Segregation. Queer History and Anti-Racism. Beyond Black and White: The Social Construction of Race in the United States. These are a few of the courses designed by faculty and students for the upcoming anti-racist blocks in the winter and spring terms.
The administration premiered a mandatory anti-racism curriculum this fall to “provide opportunities for sustained conversation about race, racism, and anti-racism and the ways they operate in our school community and beyond,” according to a student-wide email.
In the Winter and Spring, the Academy will continue to facilitate such sessions in smaller groups with the help of a student design team. The anti-racist curriculum currently offers thirteen topics for students to choose from based on their interests each month, and will be conducted in cohorts.
The anti-racist seminars are intended to center student input. “We really prioritize student choice in this planning so that you can learn more about topics and talk about topics that are of interest to you,” Director of Equity and Inclusion Dr. Stephanie Bramlett said during the anti-racist block on November 12. To promote different workshops, the student and faculty leaders of the Anti-Racism Design Team (ADRT) gave overviews of their workshops.
The anti-racist course signup features a section for students to include personal requests for courses or topics, and was sent along a student facilitator signup form for facilitating anti-racist meetings. The facilitator form has since then closed, but anti-racist course signups are still open.
Students will be assigned to groups based on expressed interest, which is recorded through the course sign-up form featuring options for students to select five different anti-racist courses they would like to take. Bramlett explained that groups will be formed to contain a mixture of students from all grades, and will maintain group sizes similar to other course sizes. “We are trying to keep [groups] as Harkness-like as possible. No more than 20 is the goal. We want to make sure everybody has an opportunity to talk,” Bramlett said.
These conversations will build off of fall blocks, which included “The Vision for Anti-Racism at Exeter,” “Office of Multicultural Affairs,” “Student Council,” “Counseling and Psychological Services,” “Student Clubs and Organizations,” “Athletics,” “Academy Life” and “Anti-Racism and the Town of Exeter.”
Reflecting on this fall’s curriculum, Afro Latinx Exonian Society (ALES) and La Alianza Latina (LAL) Board Member Janessa Vargas noted the lack of community accountability in prior anti-racism blocks. “Sometimes, I’ve felt that the anti-racist blocks prioritize white comfort rather than discomfort,” Vargas said. “As a part of someone on a few boards, some being ALES and LAL, we’ve felt left out of the picture.”
Affinity leadership should be consulted during anti-racism planning, Vargas expressed. “I know that many of us said we do not want people of color to carry the burden of representation, but it feels that not consulting the very leaders that pushed for this change looks a bit exclusionary,” she said.
Vargas emphasized that although this term’s curriculum has been focused on listening, there is a need for a redesign to facilitate more discussion between students. “I think the redesign of the curriculum is absolutely necessary in order to have more productive anti-racist programming, so far, most of the webinars haven’t been vetted and a bit too freeform in order for people to truly grow,” Vargas said.
The fall term anti-racism blocks will conclude with a “Conversation with the Principal” on Nov. 19.