Inclusivity at EJM club

- Beatrice P.

Here at EJM, we dedicated the period between March 21st and March 28th to combatting discrimination and bullying, as well as the celebration of differences and diversity. While there have been initiatives throughout the school year in favor of this movement, they were all given the attention they deserve through the numerous workshops, discussions, and informative pamphlets distributed on slurs and bullying.

However, at the Inclusivity at EJM Club, these ideas and initiatives are taking place year round. In light of the murder of George Floyd by police on May 25, 2020 and the social unrest that followed, students at EJM saw the importance of exploring and more importantly combatting biasies revolving around ethnicity, gender and religion, especially amongst younger students. They wanted to answer questions along the lines of ‘Where does bias come from?’, ‘Why is it harmful?’ and ‘How can we look past it?’. That is why Vasily M. (1°IB) and Sascha R. (1°IB) decided to co-found the Inclusivity at EJM Club .

The idea of the club is for members to create presentations on different social issues, and to then present them to younger students in homeroom class or other free periods, to help them understand and fight discrimination. They felt that having younger students hear these ideas coming from their older peers would facilitate discussion, and create a safe and familiar environment for asking questions and expressing ideas.

I met with co-founder Vasily M. to hear a little bit more about the club:

Why did you choose to start the Inclusivity Club?

We started the club because we believe inclusivity is a very important issue in communities, especially those in school. This has become an important topic which we believe should be addressed. What was your main goal in start ing this club?

The goal of the club is to prove young students with clear information and ideas on the biases that our society is subject to. Definitions of key words such as feminism will be provided to students as well as different oral activities, which we think will help students to think critically about the topic. What is your role in the club?

As a co-founder of the Inclusivity Club, I help in leading some of the discussions which are held via Zoom with other members. As our club is just starting to take action, I will also be helping with the organization of which members will present which social issue or bias.