By Soven Bery ’15 and Megha Poddar ’15, Editors-In-Chief

As seniors, both of us have been at this school for a very long time– one since sixth grade and the other since eighth grade. When reflecting on that period of time, we both agree that we have witnessed, sometimes even taken part in, changes that have pushed our school community in the right direction, towards inclusion rather than exclusion and towards acceptance rather than narrow-mindedness. We have witnessed presentations made during Black History Month that criticized our students for precipitating microaggressions; we have witnessed members of our own student body come before the school with complete honesty about their sexual identities, forging tears and applause from a “liberal” audience; we have witnessed the after-effects of Dr. Michael Fowlin, who paralyzed Newark Academy as he spoke about teenage depression, suicide and the importance of a simple message, “You are beautiful.” We have witnessed this force of progressive thinking manifest during every single year at the Academy with increasing strength and power; however, with certain recent events in mind we cannot help but question whether that is actually a true and honest description of our school.

This school year brought the onset of several, yet sometimes subtle, changes to the school’s culture. One of these changes, the new gender-neutral dress code, roused conversation among some students as a clear indication of the school’s push towards inclusion. Our community prides itself on this notion of acceptance and tolerance, but while we at The Minuteman have found that changes like the new dress code may be surface indicators of progressive school policy, the student body itself is not always as inclusive as we may think. During the last meeting, for instance, a member of the editorial staff told a story of how a group of Newark Academy students was overtly mocking the new dress code in class, discussing how “weird” it would be to see boys wearing dressy tank tops as ordained by the current policy, a policy that strives to help all members of the community, regardless of their gender orientation, feel comfortable inside the building. How can our community move forward as long as topics like these, of inclusion and acceptance, garner joking and ridicule among students?

There has even been debate around the Gay Straight Alliance’s dissemination of safe space stickers, as some faculty members have chosen not to display these stickers in their rooms. What message does this send to our students and community? Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, but the stickers have created a situation wherein students who are unsure of their sexual orientation may feel awkward or anxious in rooms where they are not “accepted” as perceived by the absence of a sticker. On the other hand, however, there may be some teachers who feel that perhaps the stickers are unnecessary labels or that they create further divides. Maybe, even, some teachers find the implication that it is not self-evident that they offer a safe space to their students as downright insulting.

The Gay Straight Alliance, seemingly in the midst of most of the progressive change at the Academy, is also drafting a proposal to radically alter the bathroom situation. The proposal will allow students who identify as a different gender than the one they were born with to use the bathroom of that gender. If a student with biologically male parts identifies as being a female, that student would now be allowed to use the female’s bathroom and vice versa. Additionally, if one does not identify with the gender binary at all, one would be allowed to use private, one-stall bathrooms (formally faculty restrooms). The way we, as a community, view bathrooms in regard to gender has been the same for hundreds of years. It will be interesting to see how our community reacts to a proposal that will undoubtedly provide a new perspective and challenge traditional thinking. Though the proposal has yet to be formally introduced, some students have already raised qualms about the points mentioned above. As the debate rages on, The Minuteman encourages all involved to keep an open mind. Viewpoints will be questioned, boundaries will be pushed and voices will be heard, but it is imperative to stay respectful through it all. Everyone thinks they are right; otherwise, the very act of debate would be useless. This discussion will without a doubt push the school community forward; however, very few points of view are worthy of being deemed “stupid” or “irrelevant.” Just because someone’s thinking is different does not mean it is inherently wrong. We encourage all students, from both sides of the aisle, to keep this simple message in mind as argumentation unravels.

Change is incremental; it does not happen all at once. In the past few years, however, this push for progressive change within our community has accelerated. This has led us to believe that the nature of the discussion surrounding social change itself has changed– it is no longer “what steps can we take to change the school’s policies?” but rather “how are those changes really being perceived?” We also ask you to judge the nature of this continuing discussion for yourselves, encouraging you, as our readers, to personally consider the role you may play in perpetuating this discussion.