Photo by Maddie Dubrinsky/The Choate News
On Wednesday, February 3, the School hosted its fourth Community Conversation, this time on Pan-Asian identity. The discussion offered Pan-Asian-identifying students an opportunity to share their experiences in response to randomly selected questions submitted anonymously by community members, such as “What do you treasure most about your particular Asian culture/tradition?” It also gave the community the chance to hear Ms. Canwen Xu, whose TED Talk, “I Am Not Your Asian Stereotype,” went viral in 2016.
The event was optional for students and faculty. According to an email sent by Director of Equity & Inclusion Dr. Rachel Myers, scheduling the conversation so that it did not overlap with other events at Choate was “immensely challenging.”
By listening to accounts of racism and oppression shared by Pan-Asian-identifying students, other students and teachers in the community felt they were able to reflect on their own actions. Raye Osayimwese-Sisson ’23 said, “Being able to sit down and listen to the experiences of my peers in the Pan-Asian community was a great opportunity for me to learn how to be there for them and help them in the future, and also recognize the intersections between Black and Asian communities at Choate.”
Mr. Filipe Camarotti, Associate Director of Equity & Inclusion, found great value in the conversation. He said, “I was disheartened to hear the pain that students and adults shared, and I was grateful to hear the ways in which Pan-Asian identity was important to individuals’ lives.”
He added, “I am even more committed to doing my part as an individual and faculty member to make sure my students and colleagues are able to live their lives without being discriminated against because of their Pan-Asian identity.”
Around 430 people attended the conversation — some half of the student body. Many community members expressed excitement over that level of student engagement. Julia Xu ’23 said, “I thought the Community Conversation was immensely successful — both the number of people who participated and the number who showed up made me feel touched, and I felt seen as an Asian person for the first time.”
The primary organizer of the event, Dr. Myers, said, “It never ceases to amaze me how thoughtful, honest, and open community members can be if simply given an opportunity to share their perspectives in a respectful environment.”
That attendance at the event was optional after students and faculty were required to attend previous Community Conversations, including events that examined Black and queer identity, frustrated many Pan-Asian-identifying members of the community. Xu described the decision as “yet another microaggression from the administration.”
“I felt hurt and confused that this meeting on Asian identities was optional, especially since the School did not address the racially-rooted violence faced by Asian people during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Abby Lu ’22. As a Community Conversation facilitator, Lu helped the School connect with Ms. Xu.
According to Mr. Camarotti, it was not up to the Office of Equity and Inclusion to require attendance at the event. “Aside from Diversity Day, there is no other E&I programming that is part of our existing calendar where the requirement is for everyone in the community to attend,” he said. “Therein lies an institutional problem, one that I hope others of power and influence will take action towards fixing.”
According to Dean of Students Mr. Mike Velez ’00, every piece of programming during an academic year is plotted on the calendar the previous spring. He added, “To give credit where credit is due, Dr. Myers and her team have brought our E&I programming to the highest level I have seen in my 20 plus years affiliated with Choate. It is clear that the new E&I team is ready to expand Choate’s diversity conversations so that they are not rare occurrences and with the plan to schedule programs for the 2021-22 academic year this spring, programs will be scheduled in a thoughtful manner to ensure full community participation.”
Dr. Myers, along with the rest of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) task force, have already announced, on Frebruary 19, a second conversation about Pan-Asian identity and discrimination. That event will be required of all students and faculty.
Last week’s conversation was interrupted about midway by an uninvited guest. The “Zoom bomber,” whose display name identified him as Akeeb Salim, made insensitive comments about the Pan-Asian community. The user was removed from the Zoom meeting by the event’s hosts, and the conversation continued.
According to Dr. Myers, ITS is investigating the person’s identity, and how they gained access to the event’s Zoom link. “I am disheartened that someone in our community shared that Zoom information with someone that doesn’t belong in our community,” Dr. Myers said. “The comments were a display of idiocy and clearly meant to disrupt.”
To end the event, Ms. Xu shared her personal experiences of handling trauma and microaggressions as an Asian-American growing up in Idaho, as well as her perspectives on the many other issues faced by the Pan-Asian community.
Lu, who has looked up to Ms. Xu since watching her TED-Ed Talk, was grateful for her contributions to the conversation. “She offered an outside perspective as well as her own experiences as a youth working in the field of diversity and inclusion, which are valuable as some may have never been exposed to these issues before coming to Choate,” Lu said.
