Around eighty student facilitators have received training throughout the year to prepare for workshops. Graphic by Chandler Littleford/The Choate News
Every year, preparing for Diversity Day requires an immense amount of effort and collaboration by Director of Equity and Inclusion Dr. Keith Hinderlie, Associate Director of Equity and Inclusion Mr. Filipe Camarotti, students on the planning committee, and Diversity Day student facilitators. Although this year’s preparation process has been largely consistent with previous years, there are two major changes to this year’s program: students will hear a keynote speaker instead of watch a film, and fourth, fifth, and sixth formers will be participating in discussion-based workshops on a variety of topics that students themselves have chosen.
This year, Choate invited facilitator and educator Dr. Liza Talusan to be this year’s keynote speaker. She appeared in the film, I’m Not Racist… Am I?, which was shown as part of last year’s Diversity Day program. According to Dr. Hinderlie, Dr. Talusan’s speech will focus on how to engage appropriately in difficult conversations concerning diversity and inclusion. He hopes that Dr. Talusan will help members of the Choate community better communicate across difference.
Another major change for this year’s Diversity Day is that fourth formers, along with upperclassmen, will not only be engaging in activity-based workshops but in discussion-based workshops as well. According to Dr. Hinderlie, feedback from previous years indicated that the activity-based workshops were repetitive, and fourth form students were already familiar with the themes that the activities aimed to introduce. As a result, a survey with potential topics for discussion were sent out to the Choate community on November 21. The discussion topics that received the most votes in the poll were then sent out in another survey on Friday, January 10, to fourth formers as well as the fifth and sixth formers, who were asked to rank their top five interests. The 15 workshops were on topics like how to be an effective ally to marginalized groups, the inner workings of affirmative action in the college process, and how colorism affects hookup culture at Choate. The Diversity Day Planning Committee plans to take the information from this survey to assign students to the topics they are most interested in.
The Diversity Day Planning Committee, which consists of the leaders of student clubs that have a major focus on diversity, have met weekly since late October to help plan the events of the day and generate discussion topics. This year, there are approximately 80 student facilitators. Before Diversity Day, which will take place this Monday, they will have participated in three training sessions led by members of the planning committee to practice managing difficult situations and leading safe discussions. Dr. Hinderlie said that the facilitators are excited and prepared and expect the discussions to flow smoothly.
