Melissa Abad

As a member of the Diversity Task Force for four years, I have seen the club become a forum in which the support group officers gather to discuss issues they face at Deerfield, within their groups, or issues they hear about at other high schools and on college campuses. We come together to work towards reaching a community that is often reluctant to hear what support groups have to say. We seek to increase tolerance and awareness on campus. For me it has also been a place where along with my peers, I am able to find my voice.

This year, things have changed because we realized that there are issues still not discussed. Whereas last year we mobilized as members of support groups to affect change, this year we needed to involve more people in activism. We cannot reach this community if we do not converse with more people, like faculty and other students, to learn about issues that were important.

After the incident in Louis Marx, I realized that the DTF, as leaders of this community, could not be passive. A fellow student was hurt, and as a group concerned with the safety and well being of all students and the greater Deerfield environment, we needed to do something.

After a conversation I had with Ms. Hager, I realized that this year's Martin Luther King Day needed to be different from previous ones. We wanted to celebrate his work and what he lived for: a community in which people were not silenced because of who they were or offended because they represented a different perspective.

Inside the Deerfield Black Student Coalition's Multicultural Center, we accomplished something a little more important. We created a forum for discussion that strengthened our voices. Friendships emerged. Alliances formed. The DTF became a support group for me and for many student leaders who, everyday, help the students like them who look for answers.

Our different support groups celebrated their different cultures with more events, but we also wanted to open ourselves up to more ideas. We wanted to broaden our perspective and better understand our position. Some of us worked with the Anti-Defamation league in the fall and went to a Youth Congress a few weeks ago. Nine of us also went to the National Institute of Independent Schools' People of Color Conference. These two events helped us realize two things. The training secured our confidence and complimented much of the work we had done with Ms. Hager in previous years. The four days in Nashville also proved to us that we were not alone in our struggle for a more open community and that we had the tools, including Ms. Hager's support, knowledge, and courage to help us and others move forward.

The DTF has been louder and more active this year. The DBSC's Multicultural Center, as a common meeting place, joins us all. It brings students who often know little of each other to a place where they can talk about issues that concern them. From these discussions, students find the solutions and Ms. Hager helps cany those out. As our advisor, mentor, friend, and link to the faculty, Ms. Hager is sometimes seen as the only concerned voice, but this year we worked as one unit.

The group is growing up, tightening, and opening its eyes to more possibilities. Bridges are being constructed to connect us to other groups, other campus leaders, and other schools so our voices will be heard. At our last meeting, we invited Scroll editors and there are many other plans for next year to keep the larger Deerfield community informed about what we do as support groups. We do not seek to segregate or insult the school with our observations. As a group, we seek passionately to engage the students in breaking their silences. This I can see will continue next year, with stronger, more experienced voices.