By Kiran Damodaran ’17 and Rakhi Kundra ’17, Editors-in-Chief

Newark Academy prides itself on harnessing a diverse environment, and on the surface, our community radiates diversity of background and thought. From hosting up to four Global Speakers representing different areas of study and ideologies every year, to housing student-led clubs such as Young Republicans, Young Democrats, Asian Diversity, Indian Club, Mi Casa Club, Umojaa, and Jewish Club, it seems as though NA has created a niche for anyone and everyone. But, beneath the blanket of equity and acceptance that seems to engulf our school community, there is something stirring; a sense of discontent and displacement is developing within our student body that must be addressed.

We asked a variety of students from different genders, races, and political backgrounds what they thought about the current environment at NA, and found that there are groups on campus who feel underrepresented, even marginalized.

There has recently been a lot of discussion regarding the political landscape at NA; our mock election results from earlier this year reveal the relative imbalance of political support when compared to the general US population – Clinton claimed 64% of votes and Trump claimed 25%. While higher education institutions tend to be more liberal, this sort of disparity serves as evidence for many conservatives that there is a lack of political diversity at Newark Academy. How does this sort of overwhelming political majority affect the social landscape?

Anthony Giachin ‘17, the captain of the baseball team and a well-respected and outspoken conservative member of the school community, focuses on the lack of integration between those on different or opposing sides of the political spectrum: “Both groups are stubborn, have difficulty listening to others’ viewpoints, and aren’t very open minded. Especially because a lot of conversation at NA is about politics, there becomes a clear segregation and dislike for opposing viewpoints. Many students are very flamboyant about their viewpoints and during that, they tend to demean or undermine other viewpoints. Both parties are guilty of this, which has led to little political integration.” He added that teachers are not exempt from this type of action, stating, “The clear one sided nature of arguments and statements from teachers tends to make students with opposing viewpoints feel ‘wrong’ about their opinions and potentially uncomfortable to share. Because politics is such a hot topic at NA and there are so many things that students feel passionate about, there are often grudges held strictly based on opinions on topics.” In many ways this lack of political integration was clear during Trump’s inauguration, as conservatives sat almost exclusively with other conservatives and liberals did the same.

Tiana Barkley ‘17, a key member of the Equity & Inclusion Team, agreed that NA often lacks diverse political representation, expressing that she believes “a lot of people don’t share their opinion, whether it’s because they are afraid their opinion won’t be valued or they don’t talk about politics in general.” A few others who identified as more liberal, however, felt that students have had plenty of chances to voice their opinion.

While there was greater agreement that NA was racially diverse, there are still disparities and issues with the school’s current makeup. Although Asian representation has remained strong, other minority groups still often find themselves underrepresented; for example, as Isaiah Merritt ‘17 noted in the Equity & Inclusion Team’s morning meeting presentation, he is the only black male in his grade. Silvia Mejia ‘17, president of Mi Casa Club, mentions a similar trend with hispanic representation, saying, “I’ve noticed that in the last few years the grades have become more diverse, but I would like to see more Latinos, being that I’m the only full Latina in my grade.” Tiana Barkley ‘17 echoed this sentiment and noted, “There is also a multicultural population at NA that goes unnoticed because students choose to identify only with one race.”

One of the least talked about aspects of diversity, however, especially at NA, is socioeconomic diversity. While morning meetings are often filled with presentations on politics and social justice issues, as a community, we often avoid the uncomfortable topic of money. With tuition costs of almost $40,000 per student per year, NA is difficult to afford for even the most wealthy families. Across political and racial backgrounds, the students interviewed almost unanimously agreed that this was NA’s weakest area in diversity – and least talked about.

In terms of integration, however, Anthony Giachin ‘17 believes, “kids don’t really hold stigmas against one [socioeconomic] class or another… students do a good job of ignoring that aspect and treating everyone equally.” Silvia Mejia ‘17 points out that this sort of integration is due to NA’s positive work as a school: “NA can pride themselves in saying that they have given equal opportunities to all students… this is all thanks to the accepting community.” But are there limits to this accepting community when it comes to socioeconomic diversity? While the Newark Scholars program has grown in significance in the past few years, as a community, we often fail to discuss socioeconomic diversity within our school and its ramifications.

Moreover, with such an overwhelming majority of socioeconomically privileged students, some programs and discussions at NA fail to accommodate for this diversity. Jennifer Huo ‘18, an involved member of Asian Diversity Club, commented on this trend: “A common question I hear after coming back to school from a long break is ‘where did you go over break?’ Due to the lack of socioeconomic integration, NA often takes for granted the fact that its students spend so much – and increasingly more every year – in tuition. Last year the school required students to have a certain kind of MacBook, and more recently, the track team made it a requirement to buy over $100 worth of track clothing.”

With these issues in mind, we must ask, what can we as a community do to help? It begins with conversation – not only in organized discussions but in daily life as well. Rather than shy away from the uncomfortable or difficult topics, encourage yourself to embrace them, and most importantly, engage with those of different backgrounds. While the NA community is generally an accepting one, to improve the school we all know and love we must do the most difficult thing one can do: challenge it.