Racial equity, inclusion, and biases. These are some of the topics that the Human Rights Club hopes to discuss with attendees at their “Day of Compassion” event on Thursday. 

“The event is meant for anyone who wants to learn about different perspectives surrounding racial issues as well as share their own ideas,” said Human Rights Club President Alia Attar.

The event will be split up into multiple parts, beginning with student speakers introducing the attendees to the event, and then followed by small group discussions. 

“I think having multiple parts to the event makes it special,” said junior Brendan Arch. “You get to hear from student speakers who voice their opinion to everyone and then you get to go to smaller groups, creating lots of opportunities for students to express their ideas and learn from others.”

Others feel that the event is special because, unlike many other school-sponsored events, this one is purely student-driven.

“No one is saying we have to do this, it is all student-driven,” said Human Rights Club sponsor Mrs. Kelly McKee. “Change doesn’t come if you don’t have a sense of courage and the fact that students are willing to speak is really admirable.” 

Members feel that by sharing different perspectives on race, other students can become more aware of racial issues.

“I think that race often doesn’t feel like a real issue to people at this school because it’s predominantly white,” said sophomore Sophia Zar. “So I think that hearing about others’ experiences will help open people’s eyes and perhaps spread awareness about racial issues.”

Other members believe that the event will also remove some of the hesitations that many feel when it comes to discussing race.

“A lot of people are afraid to start the conversation around race because they don’t want to accidentally say something wrong and hurt someone,” said junior Lilliana Walsh. “But I think confronting the issue head-on by initiating the conversation about it gets rid of some of that fear.”

Students believe that the discussions will clear out common misconceptions concerning race, and create an understanding at a deeper level.

“I’m kind of excited to see how personally this event will help me and others learn about things that I might think I know but I don’t really understand on the level that some other people do,” said Arch. 

Similarly, teachers hope that this event will allow students of different backgrounds to be more understanding of each other in a time of divisiveness. 

“We have so much more in common than we have different and we need to find that common ground,” said McKee. “This is a step in the right direction to promoting inclusivity and understanding.”