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Volu m e 6 2 , Issu e 6
Febr u ar y 7, 2014
A Student Publication of the Belmont Hill and Winsor Schools
What is the foundation of a Belmont Hill or Winsor Education?
Penny Race Results p. 3
p. 11-12
Finding Unity in Diversity at Annual MAP/SAFE Breakfast By Jacob Pagano Panel Staff Dreary-eyed students shuffled into Wadsworth on an early Thursday morning in January, fatigued after a week of homework and assessments and scanning Facebook. But when they got to the Annual MAP/SAFE Diversity breakfast and saw the incisive, ever-ebullient Emeka Ekwelum, and the cool, collected Caleb Collins, and were greeted by other students and alumni who wanted not to engage in genteel, cocktail-style chatter, but yearned to talk straight about diversity and race and equality, the sleepy dust fell from their eyes and their mental fires were lit. There was no agenda for the morning, no intended result. The students, faculty
and alumni gathered simply to have open, honest conversation, and to contemplate issues surrounding race and diversity and class at Belmont Hill. A guiding compass for the morning was the pressing question of inclusiveness: how could we, in the words of Mr. Ekwelum, make Belmont Hill a “more inclusive community for us all”? This was the first Diversity event I attended while at Belmont Hill. In the past, I didn’t attend because I felt such meetings were irrelevant to me, a white student. “This isn’t my niche,” I facilely reasoned with myself. It’d be awkward, uncomfortable, and I’d feel misplaced. I was wrong. Faculty and students and trustees of various races and cultural backgrounds were in attendance—and though we each had our own reasons
for being there, we were all united by a common desire to engage in thoughtful, respectful conversation. No notes, no preparation, no assignment—just come in and chat. The breakfast created an environment where participants could speak frankly about their own experiences dealing with race, injustice and marginalization. The exercise we performed was pitched as something of a speed-dating event: we were each paired off for three minute intervals, during which we discussed questions such as “What is one aspect of your identity that you’re most
Bill Mahoney
proud of?” and “I wish that my peers at Belmont Hill better understood…” continued on page 5
Welcome A Response: Affirmative Action in Admissions Back, Ms. A Winsor student shares her thoughts on “Benign Intention, Unjust Execution” Stettler! By Summer Payton Contributing Writer
winsor.edu
Winsor director Ms. Stettler By Faith Danglo Contributing Writer While the hallways of Winsor are filled with smiling faces, one fewer smiling face has been there to greet students this fall: our director, Ms. Stettler, who was on sabbatical in Europe this semester. Along with many outdoor activities, including cycling with her husband from the Czech Republic to Austria and hiking in Italy, Ms. Stettler also became a student. But what, we ask, could Ms. Stettler (or any faculty members) have left to learn? She told the Panel that she “immersed [herself] in cello studies in Florence, learned some Italian, and relished being a beginning ceramics student at an extended workshop at an arts center in the countryside.” continued on page 2
Before I craft my response to last issue’s article “Affirmative Action: Benign Intention, Unjust Execution,” I should define affirmative action. Affirmative action is the practice of favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, namely historically excluded groups like women and racial minorities. Often affirmative action is used in the context of both employment and education, but for the purposes of this piece I will focus on its role in education, specifically the college application process. Race-based affirmative action does not operate, as this previous article suggests, on the assumption that “race is a determinant of one’s socioeconomic status.” The practice operates on the understanding that certain groups have been disadvantaged based on race, which has consequently encouraged the creation of experiences and cultures differ-
ent from those of the dominant, white race. As a student of color in a predominantly white environment, I witness culturedriven differences on a day-to-day basis. Perhaps the article’s biggest flaw is its reliance upon the perceived relationship between race and socioeconomic status in the college process. SocioecoCartoon discussed in the Politics of Identity class nomic status does not hide behind race, as the author and socioeconomic class are often suggests, but is communicated connected, but should we should through the FAFSA (Free Appli- then abandon race-based affirmacation for Federal Student Aid) tive action in favor of a class-based and similar forms. Race is not a alternative altogether? Absolutely mirror of socioeconomic status not. The two identifiers are inand, therefore, is not a more “di- terconnected, not interchangerect and accurate” way to identify able. To abandon the race-based disadvantaged students —race is method is to fall victim to the ficmerely an identifier that caters tion that we do not live in a pigmore to a historical disadvan- mentocracy. In reality, skin color tage than to an economic one. can speak louder than the car one Indeed, I agree that race drives, the sport one plays, and
Washington Post
the way one forms one’s sentences. The treatment of individuals of color in America’s past has left an indelible mark on the interactions among Americans today. “We would like to believe that racial differences do not still separate us,” said Channing Frick ’14, “but the fact is there is still a fair amount of segregation. Affirmative action improves integration while creating a more diverse continued on page 6
Lone Survivor: The Man in the Uniform By Jay O’Brien Panel Staff On January 27th, Belmont Hill students filled the Hamilton Chapel on a Monday morning to begin the first full week of classes since vacation. Mr. George, a math teacher at the school, stood atop the podium to tell the story of his brother-in-law, Major Stephen Reich. Reich’s story as a member of the Special Operations Aviation Regiment has resurfaced due to
the film Lone Survivor, which was released last December. Lone Survivor, based on the book of the same name, tells the true story of four Navy SEALs who were attacked during a mission named Operation Red Wings, and in a tragic turn of events, just one SEAL was able to survive. Along with three Navy Seals, 16 other soldiers were killed in an attempted rescue by helicopter, and one of the soldiers on board was Major Stephen Reich. Although the helicopter’s at-
tempted rescue is mentioned in both the movie and the book, neither one truly illustrates the lives of the soldiers who were killed in the attempted rescue as genuine people with interesting backstories and families awaiting their return home. Mr. George provided a detailed description of his brother-in-law’s life before and during Stephen’s time in the army, as well as the farreaching impact of Stephen’s death on his community. continued on page 4
courtesy photo