BLACK HISTORY MONTH

In honor of Black History Month, members of the Black Student Union (BSU) led Berkshire’s all-school meetings throughout the month of February. In a note to the community, the group said: “In observance of this month, the Black Student Union will share weekly presentations of our rich history and culture across the Black Diaspora. We are excited for you to take this journey with us as we explore the different trailblazing experiences that have helped to shape the world that we live in.”

“During Black History Month we name and honor those who paved the way. We thank leaders like Ella Baker, who organized grassroots political campaigns to hold elected leaders accountable to all their people, and Malcolm X, who insisted that Black dignity and Black economic and social success were not impossible, and Mary McLeod Bethune, who dared to dream and founded a college so Black students could claim the fruits of education.

I am able to stand here today and celebrate Black history with this community thanks to those leaders who saw a vision of what we could be and dared to make it a reality when they were told it was a joke ...

—Mohamed Morsi ’25, from his speech about Black Resistance and Black Joy

To read Morsi’s full remarks, visit berkshireschool.org/speech.

Kapteyn Prize Celebration

The 12th annual Kapteyn Prize Celebration honored Dr. Tasia Cheng-Chia Wu, winner of the 2020 James C. Kapteyn Prize for excellence in teaching. The Chamber Music ensemble, directed by Dr. Wu, played “Song from a Secret Garden” by Norwegian composer Rolf Løvland, to honor the occasion.

In her acceptance remarks, Dr. Wu thanked the Kapteyn family for the grant, which she’ll use to travel. She shared, “Through traveling, I hope to bring back seeds of experience to enrich my own secret garden, and when nurtured and recharged, I will be a better self to serve and teach.”