n January 17, 2012, Concord Academy students and faculty participated in a daylong celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The slate of events included a series of workshops, discussion groups, and a screening of the film Prep School Negro, by André Robert Lee. Lee produced and directed the film about his experiences growing up poor and African American in Philadelphia and attending the predominantly white Germantown Friends School on a scholarship. Lee said that he was “deeply moved” to be asked to be the keynote speaker on a day that honored the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I am the dream, you are the dream, we are the dream,” Lee told the audience. But, he added, although he flourished in the academic atmosphere
Model UN oncord Academy was named Outstanding Small Delegation at a recent Model United Nations conference at Yale University, capturing the title from a field of more than fifty schools from around the world. Fourteen CA students attended Yale’s thirty-eighth annual Model UN confer-
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André Robert Lee
at his prep school, his accomplishments did not come without an emotional cost. “There’s a notion that you often feel like a guest in a stranger’s house. You’re welcome there, but you’re, like, I don’t really want to touch anything, and you’re watching your peers run around, and it’s home for them.” After the film, during a question-and-answer session, Lee was asked, “What aspects of being in a minority
ence, which hosted more than 1,200 delegates from the United States, Europe, and Asia. Besides the group award for the school’s delegation, eight students were singled out for their exceptional performances. Juniors William Murphy ’13 and Josh Troop ’13 were named Best Delegate for their roles on the UN Security Council, as was Sam Shapiro-Kline ’13
for his role in the UN Conference on Science and Technology for Development. Sophomores Kai Salem ’14 and Hunter Moskowitz ’14 received Outstanding Delegate (2nd place) awards for representing India in the World Health Organization committee, and junior Phil Stefani ’13 and sophomore Clem Aeppli ’14 shared an Honorable Mention award as Indian delegates on the
Experience. In the afternoon, a panel of Concord Academy alumnae/i took center stage at the P.A.C. to answer questions and discuss their own experiences as students of color at CA. Vernard Lockhart ’04 admitted that it was a “huge culture shock” coming to CA from his hometown of Chicago. Lockhart said his first two years were difficult ones but he graduated from CA feeling it “was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
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at a prep school have changed most radically and what has stayed the same?” Lee answered that in his view, “There is more open dialogue now in terms of people talking about differences of experiences . . . there is more room for the conversation now.” After the film, students and faculty broke into smaller workshops to discuss a variety of topics including Deconstructing Bias, Stereotypes and Misconceptions, and the Undocumented Immigrant
Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Max Samels ’12, the head of CA’s Model UN (CAMUN) club, also took second place — an Outstanding Delegate award — for his role on the historical Congress of Vienna. “I’ve been doing it since freshman year. I love it. It’s about debating and politics, everything I love,” said Max. He will be secretary general at CAMUN 2012. 3
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Celebrating MLK Day