Diversity Summit Pulls Back “Smoke Screen”

The AUHSD Diversity Committee held its 1st summit on April 15, with students from Acalanes, Las Lomas, Miramonte and Campolindo at Del Valle High school.

The Diversity Committee is a group of students who meet once a month to discuss the complex issues of diversity. “We get together and discuss issues pertaining to our campuses. The event was inspired by our associate superintendent, Ms. McNamara. She brought the idea to have a day where we can discuss the issues with kids who are not in Leadership,” said senior Ashley Lok, co-Commissioner of Cultural Diversity at Campolindo.

Summit participants were split into groups, each tasked with examining a particular issue: race matters, gender identity, Islamophobia, disability, and difficulties of 1st generation college students in the United States.

“I got some new perspectives. I know that when I was going to tell my friends they said, ‘You can’t go to that, you’re white,’ but a thing they talked about is that you don’t have to be a minority group to want to support everyone and have an equal society,” said sophomore Alexandra Reinecke.

“A big part of what Leadership does in putting on Care Week and International Week is trying to show the differences that students are smoke screened from come to life,” said Lok, who believes that the school does an acceptable job of creating tolerance but cannot truly address the issues that some teens face.

The smoke screen, for Lok, is the sheltered environment within which students operate at Campolindo. The Diversity Summit was intended to pull away that cover in a way that was informative and revealing.

“I came in there, was open minded and got so much out of it. It just makes you want to learn more and more about all of the issues. They listed the things that were said in the district and their so insenstive. The names being called are rude so that needs to change. I took that we needed to bring our ideas back to Campolindo and do more,” said sophomore Bestie Alter.

After the group seminars, students from the 4 schools came back together to debrief. “I thought it was really good to come together with other students and hear what they had said in their own groups. It was surprising to hear from students the stories and experiences they had witnessed at school,” said Reinecke.

A similar summit will be held in early May for teachers in the district.

“The summit was kind of a simulation, this year was a guinea pig year and so we are definitely having one next year and from here on out because it’s really important for kids who haven’t been participating in the past,”said Lok.

The Diversity Committee plans to make the summit an annual tradition.