Black Student Alliance Embraces Core Values

Officers of Harpeth Hall's Black Student Alliance

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HARPETH HALL BLACK STUDENT ALLIANCE OFFICERS 2020-21

President: Sydney Wynn

Vice President: Mary Collins

Secretary: Kenna Carter

Event Coordinator: Christina Zua

Black Student Alliance EMBRACES Harpeth Hall’s Core Values

While having coffee in Washington D.C. during Winterim in January 2020, Sydney Wynn started to think about forming a new club at Harpeth Hall. She wanted to create an intentional space where students of color could find fellowship and support one another, and where all of her classmates could talk, learn, and grow together.

In the months that followed, the world that we all knew changed. The pandemic and the protests for racial justice elevated the need to have a safe space for open dialogues about issues confronting our community and our nation. Moved to be a part of that solution, Sydney and a group of her senior classmates started Harpeth Hall’s newest club, Black Student Alliance.

“The only way to create change is to have open conversations between people of different races and different belief systems,” said Sydney, who serves as president of Black Student Alliance. “The only way to have problems solved is to have all people included.”

“The importance of Black Student Alliance for the Harpeth Hall student body is that it challenges the young women to embrace two of our school's core values: diversity and dedication to the service of others,” said MarQuis Chappell, who serves as one of the club’s faculty advisors. “The informal atmosphere during the club’s meetings frees the girls to authentically engage with each other's questions regarding the many minority cultural backgrounds represented in our school community.” The students talk about what’s happening in the city and the nation, and they also engage in fun and lighthearted discussions, introducing club members to new music by artists such as Kane Brown or offering education about Black hair.

While Black Student Alliance provides a space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) students, the student leaders are purposeful about making it an atmosphere open to anyone who would like to learn more about Black culture.

“The senior leaders are proving themselves to be thoughtful, innovative practitioners, whose first priority is to ensure the club is not only accessible to BIPOC students, but the entire school community,” Mr. Chappell said. “... An equitable school community must provide students with mirrors (reflections of themselves) and windows (opportunities to explore cultural backgrounds different from their own), and BSA provides both, which contributes to our students becoming culturally competent global citizens.”

Throughout the school year, Black Student Alliance would like to initiate and lead community projects such as a school supply drive. They want to elevate discussions about racism and bias. They hope to play a role in helping the school plan events for Black History Month and other celebrations of diversity throughout the year. The leaders of Black Student Alliance would also “love for this to trickle to other races,” Sydney Wynn said. “We would love for girls to find a space similar to ours to share their experiences and talk about the world from their perspective.”

The club’s focus is to further Harpeth Hall’s commitment to cultivate and promote a school that is diverse, welcoming, and inclusive and that appreciates differences while fostering community.

“We want BSA to be a place where we can have conversations with people who are different from us and where others can have conversations with people who are different from them,” said Kenna Carter, who serves as secretary for BSA. “Where you can become a more improved version of yourself.”

FALL 2020