By Samara Kinyanjui’27
On October 18, 2024, in the TPACC Auditorium, Mr. Kang revealed to the Highlanders that they had the opportunity to effectively impact the community. By joining a new council, “The Student Belonging and Inclusion Council,” their focus was to be a valuable resource for the students and faculty on campus. That included planning social events like fundraisers and fun activities while creating awareness through presentations. The council was then filled by a selected group of passionate students determined to help bring change onto campus and encourage new ideologies.
This council was established by a group of adults on campus who felt passionate about emphasizing diversity within The Frederick Gunn community through the students. Mr. Kang, Mr. McMann, Mr. Poole, and Dr. Magana were the adults who came together at the beginning of the school year and decided that this council would positively impact the community. The new council appealed to the student body enough to attract multiple applicants interested in joining the council. Ultimately, the council could only accept four students from each grade. So by the end of the selection process, fourteen lucky students were chosen. Evidently, looking into the future they have plans to work on creating a better environment on campus, which will allow for students to have the opportunity to help better their community.
Having the ability to ensure that others feel included and have a sense of belonging will never be an easy task, especially when it comes to accomplishing it in predominantly white institutions, also referred to as PWI. For students of color, it can be hard to voice opinions because they are constantly denied the opportunity to do so, which is why it is important to let those in a community know that their actions affect people negatively or positively. This is where the new student council comes in. It will educate the community and let students know they are heard, either in the classroom or on the field.
Mr. Kang, the Dean of Belonging and Inclusion, stated that the concept of the council was to “expand the idea of diversity to others, so we created something that would personally affect the students on campus, and that meant including people from different backgrounds. Whether that was from affinity group leaders to students that identified as white or students that are members of the LGBTQ+ community, I wanted the students to be reliable allies to all and help create an environment where everyone can coexist with one another.” Furthermore, we can relate this to Frederick Gunn because he focused on pluralism, and the council is an excellent representation of pluralism.
