By Gustavo Vives
Senior and BSU leader Jirah ‘24 has a message she wants to deliver to the wider school community regarding student unions: “The door is always open! Regardless if people want to participate or just hang out!”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Field School encouraged the creation of “affinity groups” spaces where students who held a shared identity could meet in a safe environment. These groups allowed students to make friends based on the things they had in common. Today, Affinity groups have grown in size and influence in the Field School community, and are responsible for planning many community events, fundraisers, and policy suggestions.
Every two weeks, in classroom E208, representatives from the Jewish Student Association (JSA), Black Student Union (BSU), Hispanos y Latinos Unidos (HLU), and the newly created Asian, and Multiracial Affinity groups, meet to plan and discuss how they can make The Field School a better–more inclusive–place. The man responsible for directing this collective effort is Debario Fleming, The Field School’s Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
In a meeting conducted on February 2nd, affinity groups discussed collaboration with SGA to organize a new community event similar to those of the past. The representatives wanted to create something to bring awareness to the groups and to bring the community together. They discussed the BSU Barbecue and JSA Hanukkah party, but ultimately decided to create something more representative of all of the communities in the Field School.
Watching the discussion take place, Debario felt like a “proud parent watching the affinity groups work!” They talked about a joint project for a long time, but the conversation ultimately shifted to concerns about membership and community engagement. Representatives from JSA and BSU concluded that the XYZ system restricted membership in the clubs, and felt that students were unwilling to come in during lunch to engage with affinity spaces. Elisa Shapiro, Field School Physics teacher and JSA sponsor, echoed these remarks: “People who want to participate can’t… The model we have for clubs right now is making intersectionality really hard!”
As a response to these concerns, Debario worked with the SGA and student unions to develop a new model to engage students with their community. In previous years affinity groups and student unions were one and the same. This year things have begun to change. Seth, ‘25, one of the leaders of JSA noted during the meeting that “Affinity spaces and student unions are different” and that making this difference clear to the student body is a top priority.
Debario seconded this, saying that one of his priorities for the Field School community is to combat a lack of awareness of the difference between these groups. Debario feels that differentiating safe spaces for communities, and student unions representing these communities could be key to increasing student engagement and strengthening diversity in the Field School.
The new system would designate student unions as a governing body responsible for organizing events, communicating with the administration, and representing the interests of student groups, while affinity groups would be designed as safe spaces for community members to hang out. Key to the success of this initiative would be a universal open door policy proposed by BSU, whereby members of student unions could participate in meetings regardless of club commitments. This would be similar to the current policy of peer tutoring. Jirah ‘24, one of the greatest advocates of this approach, feels that an open door policy would “combat a misconception of exclusion, and make community participation more engaging!”
Regardless of future policy plans, the impact of these Field School institutions can be seen in the lives of the student body. There is a clear effort from student unions to create opportunities for community outreach– may it be during lunch, or during a full fledged event like the Hispanos y Latinos Unidos’ “Reggaeton Night.”