T he L og thelog@taboracademy.org
Tabor Academy’s Student Newspaper
The Debrief
Volume 93, Number 2
November 2018
Photo by Gary Lawrence
Discussing a powerful all school meeting with the people who shared their stories by Gabby Bao In All School Meeting on September 27, Ms. Williams and Mr. Nascimento gave a powerful speech to the Tabor Community. Mr. Nas wanted to teach all members of the community to respect “the ones you love,” while Ms. Williams described her excruciating experience years ago, when several white men yelled the N-word and hurled a soda can at her. Standing on stage in the spotlight and observing the crowd in silence, Ms. Williams understood her audience’s uneasiness, pointing out, “This is exactly how uncomfortable we feel when we hear the N-word.”
In the following days, many students stopped by Ms. Williams’ and Mr. Nas’ office to share their thoughts. Among those, one of the most common, yet heartfelt, pieces of feedback has been “Thank you for finally bringing this up.” Racial slurs exist in favorite songs, social media, even in casual conversation. Many students have felt offended or confused upon hearing the N-word, but it was not until the All School announcement that the school addressed the lack of discussion about this word. To raise more awareness about this language, Ms. Williams looks forward to hearing more voices from the Tabor community. “It’s all about conversation,”
she emphasizes. “We encourage everybody [to] come talk to us. Everybody.” By communicating with more students and co-hosting a community discussion with Mr. Quirk in the Lillard Common Room, she hopes that such important topics for the community can be addressed, allowing the whole community to work together towards a resolution. The All School presentation also brought more attention to the needds of the students of color, who often feel that the community overlooks their welfare. For example, students of color have found it difficult to organize activities similar to the international student-organized Asian Dinner. Part of the problem lies in the combination of the school’s location. “The nearest place is about an hour drive when we want to have our soul food...,” Ms. Williams says. Mr. Nas also mentions the concept of “affinity space” at Tabor, a place where people with shared experiences would feel secure and hang out together.
While they admit there is more to work through, Ms. Williams and Mr. Nas hope that their All School speech has gotten the Tabor community started toward dialogue.
Visiting Writer Maggie Shipstead Writer shares her experiences, advice, process by Cat Shakin
The New York Times best-selling author Maggie Shipstead visited Tabor Academy on October 15. A graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, one of the most prestigious writing programs in the nation, Shipstead has written two novels: Astonish Me and Seating Arrangements. In addition, she has written numerous essays, many of which she has traveled around the world to research. Her recent article “Another Voyage for Madmen (And, This Time, One Woman)” about the Golden Globe Race was published in Outside. During her visit here, Shipstead focused a few of her writing workshops on her short story “The Cowboy Tango.” In many, though, she explained the long and sometimes difficult process of publishing both short stories and novels, and also about the process of creating characters. Furthermore, she enlightened her audience about choosing book covers, and the hardships that come with being a professional writer.
Please recycle this paper.
Learning about two of this year’s new faculty members, p. 3. Sustainability at Tabor, p. 2.
Photo by Gary Lawrence
Along with being a Harvard, Stanford, and Iowa graduate, Maggie Shipstead was awarded the Dylan Thomas Prize and the L.A. Times Book Prize for First Fiction, and named a finalist for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. She was also a National Magazine Award finalist in fiction. Shipstead’s multifaceted skill set provided Tabor students with the chance to learn about the journey of being a writer in almost every style—and it was an opportunity for students to meet an active and successful writer without even having to leave campus.