Winter CVPs

By: Anvi Bhate, Max Mantel, Sophia Turner, Joy Wei

Core Values Projects (CVPs) explore a wide variety of topics, from resting asynchronously to equity in economics. An initiative first started in the fall of 2021 by Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Stephanie Bramlett and Assistant Director of DEI Kevin Pajaro-Marinez, CVP topics focus on anti-oppression and anti-racism as well as students’ mental and physical wellbeing. 

The CVPs held their first meetings of winter term in mid-January. Earlier in the term, student facilitators presented a short description of their CVP at an informational assembly dubbed the Pitch Party, where students could decide which project to join.

Upper EJ Barthelemy, an OMA proctor and co-facilitator of the CVP “DiversifyOurNarrative@PEA,” commented on the effectiveness of the CVP block. “I think that the CVP is a very impactful addition to the Academy and our community because the shift from mandatory lectures of anti-racism to this really helps. I feel like this is taking a more hands-on kind of approach,” Barthelemy said.

“I feel like this is inviting all members of the Academy to actually contribute to something, and that's more rewarding than listening to a lecture,” he continued.

Prep and co-facilitator of “Sounds of Diversity” Lucy Previn described her CVP experience. “CVPs can be a great way to connect with people in other grades and learn about a topic that interests you.”

Upper and co-facilitator of “Implicit Bias in STEM” Lydia Osei also shared thoughts on the benefits of CVPs. “People have become more familiar with the idea of ‘I can think of something and actually be able to put it in place.’”

As co-facilitator of the CVP “Representation Matters! Strengthening the Community Through Literature,” upper Tucker Gibbs agreed. “I think the ability to have students create and lead their own projects is something that’s unique about Exeter and something that’s great to have in our anti-racist work program,” he said. 

“I think that was started with the mini courses last year, which were run very well. And I think this is just sort of a logical extension of that, allowing students to effectively engage with the community in projects they're specifically interested in that improve life on campus,” Gibbs continued. 

All project facilitators hope to create a positive impact, but each has a diverse number of reasons for starting their particular CVP.

“After some discussion with a couple of my friends, we decided to co-facilitate a CVP because we were all very interested in the topic of diversity and representation in music,” Previn said.

Upper Lassiter Foregger, co-facilitator of “Runners Inspiring Equity and Inclusion,” expressed a similar desire to share a subject that she was passionate about. “I decided to facilitate this CVP group because I feel like there is a lack of awareness for activist runners,” Foregger said. “I want to help educate people on how running can and has broken societal barriers,” she added.

“You rarely hear about people like Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston marathon, or Flo Jo, an Olympic runner from the ‘80s who was an advocate for equity surrounding education and feminism through athleticism,” Foregger continued.  

Osei and her co-facilitator, upper Yasmin Salerno, had their own reasons for starting their CVP, “Implicit Bias in STEM”. The objective of their project was to raise awareness for discrimination against black and brown individuals within STEM, spreading “a message that [they] feel is important to get out to as many people as possible, and as many people who are willing to listen.”

Many projects bring awareness to and address discrimination and oppression in a variety of fields. Common activities in CVPs that work to do so include having discussions, building concrete objects, or writing papers.

Gibbs, whose project is centered around building a free diverse library for Exeter’s Children’s Center, commented on his goals for this year. “The nice thing about my project is that there’s a very clear goal to reach, which is to finish building the children’s library and making sure it’s waterproof so we’ll protect the books we have,” Gibbs said.

“I think my goals are just to build the best library we can and have a home for the books that we want to give to the community and the children at the children’s center,” he continued.  

Many of the facilitators faced challenges in the fall. Barthelemy, whose CVP focuses on raising awareness about and analyzing social justice issues through social media and surveys, noted some challenges.

“People were not able to dedicate any time in between meetings. A lot of our social media work is doing posts, and for the education team, it is about writing pieces. What happened was people would come up with the ideas during the block but weren’t able to develop them more between meetings,” Barthelemy explained. “We didn’t have a suitable amount of CVP meetings last term, so it was tough to get a lot of things done.”

Gibbs agreed, having faced similar issues. “It would’ve been nice to have a bit longer of a period just between the lead up to it, with the assemblies. I think we had maybe five meetings, which for many projects means they'll have to continue for multiple terms, and interest can ebb and flow.”

 “It also wasn’t guaranteed that the same people who signed up last term were going to sign up for this term, so I guess that's one challenge that we're still dealing with and trying to figure out,” Barthelemy added.

Nevertheless, both projects, which have been continued from the fall, haven’t seen many other major changes in their approach to the CVP between the two terms.

“We recently made some changes to our departments because a lot of people signed up for the social media team within the CVP block, so we could really capitalize on that increased manpower there to make a lot more production for our posts. So I think that’s one advantage that we have for running it this term,” Barthelemy said.

When asked about the difference in approaches between this term and the last, Gibbs spoke about his project members continuing their mission. “Well, it was closed off this term to new members. We’re only continuing the building part, so we’re just putting [the library] together and are going to be painting it, which is different from the original part of the CVP, which was finding the books,” Gibbs said. “We have a mission statement and now we’re just honing down the actual library part.”

Barthelemy reflected on the positive impact of CVPs. “If you just think about the variety of topics and projects people are coming up with, it’s a bunch of really original ideas. I feel like this allows the Academy to really push forward on its journey to be more impactful in anti-oppression, et cetera. The sky’s the limit to how far people can take it.”