My mother always taught me to keep family business in the family. “The world does not know us, so they do not need to worry themselves about understanding our family,” she would say. In staying true to these statements, in respect for my Lawrenceville family and for the privacy of Maya Peterson during the resurfacing of recent events, I will not mention many of the missing key facts in these articles, but I do want to provide a bit more clarification on the happenings of this incident and, hopefully, open up a bit more dialogue in regards to young people at PWIs. Over the last several years, The Lawrenceville School has worked to create a more diverse student body and a more inclusive campus. As mentioned in the initial article, Lawrenceville is more diverse than it has ever been. The creation of a diversity representative on the Student Council, the increase in diversity amongst the affinity groups on campus, and the election by the student body of the first Black, Female President seemed to show an acceptance by the student body in creating a more inclusive campus. But, as with all change, there were a handful of people afraid to deviate from the norm. Unfortunately for many boarding schools, ‘the norm’ is an all male, all white institution. As the first Black, Female President, Maya’s actions, statements, posts, and every move were tracked very closely not simply by the administration or disgruntled alumni groups, but moreso by her schoolmates who too feared that which was “different.” Maya’s ultimate action as a representative of the entire student body, was inappropriate and unacceptable, but not the only deciding factor in the Schools undoubtedly, tough decision in asking Maya to step down or face disciplinary action that could cost her her time at Lawrenceville. Maya was and is a great young woman who exemplified extreme levels of leadership under intense levels of scrutiny. Please do your part in easing some of that scrutiny and allowing this young woman time to grow. I hope that you will use recent events to open up dialogue about the ever present racial tensions that exist on both sides of the spectrum while keeping in mind that you are commenting on young high school students. For those of you who have children or family members in boarding schools, please use this time to speak to them about any issues they may be encountering being thrust in an independent living situation where they are challenged to discover the world four years earlier than many of their peers. To those individuals in boarding schools or alums of boarding school, I commend you on challenging yourselves on self discovery at such a young age. Best, Donna Rizzo President, Lawrenceville Black Alumni Association Luke 6:37
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 01:02:25 +0000
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