Friday, April 28, 2023
Vol. 48, Issue 7, 24 pages
Inclusion takes the stage
PHOTO BY COLE FROST/FALCONER INCLUSION IN PRACTICE: Gonzalo Pacheco (10) walks through the quad to perform a cultural dance during Diversity Week. Pacheco joined other students dressed in traditional outfits to perform during lunch on April 18, marking the second event of the inaugural TPHS Diversity Week, which will be an annual tradition going forward, according to ASB Clubs Commissioner Kayla Sozinho.
Diversity Week highlights multiculturalism on campus Kathryn Reese
FEATURE EDITOR
With national Diversity Month in full swing, TPHS held a Diversity Week from April 17 to 21. Each day featured a different event, including a cultural dance performance and club fair, all aimed at raising awareness for diversity on campus, according to Nethra Mahendran (11), the co-president of the TPHS Multicultural Student Association. “[We want to] show students on campus that this is how many cultures we have, these are the people that we represent at Torrey Pines and this is what it means to be a Falcon,” Mahendran said. A collaboration between the TPHS ASB and TPHS MCSA, Diversity Week has been in the works since the beginning of the year, according to ASB Commissioner of Equity and Inclusion
Muddathir Nauaz (10). The week’s first event was a presentation by antropolitical linguist Dr. Ana Zentalla, a Professor Emeritus at University of California, San Diego, who advocated for confronting linguistic intolerance in the United States. As put by Mahendran, Zentalla’s message about the oppression of different cultures was “impactful.” “Maybe we don’t see as much from the Torrey Pines campus but once you were exposed to that [oppression] in her presentation, you start to notice little things that we can fix in our community,” Mahendran said. On Tuesday, a group of students from the TPHS branch of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano De Aztlǻna organization performed the Chinelos De Morelos dance in the quad. The dancers were even joined by TPHS Principal Rob Coppo, who waved a Mexican flag.
The next day featured a presentation by the TPHS MCSA during Student Connection time about the diverse cultures and languages at TPHS, accompanied by an activity where students could draw flags of countries they identify with. “I was excited [about the flag activity] because students could recognize how much cultural diversity we have on this campus,” Greyson Rojo (11) said, after completing his own Mexican flag. Thursday’s event featured a diversity fair in the quad at which 23 TPHS clubs promoted the groups they represent. The fair featured such clubs as the Japanese Club, Korean Club and South Asian Club. According to ASB Commissioner of Equity and Inclusion Georgia Wallerius (10), the goal of the fair was to both increase membership of the clubs and teach students about the diverse groups found on campus.
“Even if [students] don’t join the clubs, [they will be] learning about them and learning what they teach, so it’s an opportunity for clubs to get more members and students to get more educated,” Wallerius said. For some clubs, their top priority was recruitment. “[Our main goal] was to promote a new community on campus that wasn’t there before,” Maya Alam, the copresident of the South Asian Student Association. “Since our club is pretty small, I think that’s more important than educating people on the history. For kids to have a safe place to go was the most important thing for me and the other founding members.” Spanish teacher Viviana Alvarado said she was “excited” about the diversity fair event. “There are so many [clubs at TPHS] continued on A2