Taft recently hosted the 11th annual CAIS Student-Adult Diversity Leadership Conference on campus. This year's theme was "Energizing Our Future Through Refining Our Shared Sense of Community: A Conversation with Boston sculptor Fern Cunningham"
There were breakout sessions in the afternoon for Middle Schools, new High School Students, and Returning Students as well as for adults. The Adult Presentation was called "A Framework for Building Organizational Inclusion: What will an inclusive workplace look like when it’s achieved?"
The conference went very well, reported Taft admissions officer Kisha Watts, who was one of the conference organizers. "We had just over 400 people in attendance and 31 schools represented."
"I went to this conference last year and found it truly eye opening," said Nicole Lu '13, who served as a student facilitator this year. "I met many interesting people with diverse life stories and experiences that I would not have had the opportunity to meet without this conference. I had such a great time last year, that I wanted to help other students have the same experience that I did. My role was less about lecturing and more about guiding the participants' conversations in a manner conducive to organic self-reflection and realization. My group was extremely receptive and came away with many lessons form our activities, perhaps the most poigniant being that there are numerous types of diversity and sometimes the least recognized or advocated forms of diversity are the ones that deserve the most attention or discussion."
Dean of Global and Diversity Education Jamella Lee reported that in the 11 years the conference has been held, she was told that this is the first time that students expressed in an open forum that they did not want to leave the Conference. During the Closing Ceremony when it was said that it was time to end the day the students all sighed.
"The multitude of the people that attended overwhelmed me, as a performer," said Srinidhi Bharadwaj '15, "but all of them were really supportive. In fact, as I was walking through the hall later in the day, one lady complimented me on our piece. Conferences like this one unite schools in Connecticut, boarding or not."
Classmate Athena Wilkinson agrees: "The ambience was very welcoming, supportive, and fun, making my experience as a performer easier and more enjoyable."
Founded in 2003 by the CAIS Commission on Diversity in Independent Schools, this conference was inspired by events in other regions (such as Across Colors in Southern California) and modeled after the national conference held annually by The National Association of Independent Schools. The mission of the event is to bring students from grades 7-12 and adults from independent schools across the state together for a day of networking and dialogue, facilitating cross-cultural understanding and a call to action to improve our school communities and our world.
