Undercurrents: Winter Magazine

undercurrents

The Spectator Magazine Winter 2018

The Spectator The Stuyvesant High School Newspaper Dear Reader, As we brainstormed for the magazine, we sought to cover issues that deserved the special attention that a glossy, full-color magazine brings. We asked questions like, “Is the SHSAT really a fair measure of ability?” and “Are preconceived racial and gender stereotypes contributing to club admissions or to SU elections?” Looking at all of the ideas written on the chalkboard, one of the editors mumbled, “These are all...really negative.”

In Spec class this semester, we set our intentions as a paper toward the betterment of our school. Because The Spectator is a student newspaper, it is, by design, a learning experience. By creating a magazine, our intention wasn’t just to publish a newspaper on glossy paper. We wanted to explore new art, photo, and layout formats and give writers a chance—and a push—to go deep in long-form editorial investigatives.

Addressing these uncomfortable questions with large-scale investigations and statistical analyses turns an internal voice of doubt into a fact. Without being able to confirm whether or not their racial or gender experiences are widespread, people can be gaslit by themselves and others. They minimize injustices for fear of being called whiny or paranoid. But the truth is that there are provable trends and discrepancies.

The nature of journalism is to examine the unflattering. Looking for answers to long unanswered questions can put the paper at odds with other elements of Stuyvesant’s community. But we hope that asking these difficult questions will prompt the leaders of those elements to take new initiatives.

We chose the theme “Undercurrents” with the intention of capturing Stuyvesant at a subconscious level—not the image of Stuyvesant that we all see clearly, but the undescribed, underlying layers of social phenomena that shape our daily experiences of Stuyvesant. There is a marked difference in all of us between the surface level and reality.

We hope that these pieces enlighten and inspire you.

As always, thank you for reading.

—Jane Rhee & Beaux Watwood Editors-in-Chief EDI T O R S

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FA C U L T Y

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Jane Rhee Beaux Watwood Maddy Andersen Amy Huang Artem Ilyanok Talia Kahan Erin Lee William Lohier Amanda Peng Zoe Oppenheimer (cover) Tiffany Cao Jeanette Cheung Michelle Lai Jonela Malollari Brian Zhang Ting Ting Chen Zoe Oppenheimer Elena Sapelyuk Dahae Choi Ahmed Sultan Christina Tan Katie Wu Kerry Garfinkel

A very special thank you to artists Kristin Lin, Jade Lo, and Vivian Lin, as well as the members of the 2018-2019 Spectator Editorial Board for all of their contributions.

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A Closer Look at the Big Sib Program

Every student at Stuyvesant begins his or her high school career as a Little Sib at Camp Stuy, with some going on to become Big Sibs as juniors or seniors for a new incoming class. The goal of the Big Sibs program is to help new students acclimate to the school environment. Big Sibs act as mentors and role models for the underclassmen by attending their Little Sibs’ homerooms, give tours during Open House, and organize social events, such as the Big Sib Little Sib Dance.

Over the years, the program has expanded to become one of the major organizations of our school, and its application process has attracted attention, not all of it positive. Hopeful upperclassmen who have applied to the program and were rejected search for reasons as to why they were deemed unqualified, and concerns about unfairness eventually arose after rejected students considered possibilities of bias in the process.

Potential issues with the program’s application process are difficult to pinpoint because applicant data is not publicly accessible, and there has never been a unified attempt at making the application process any more transparent. We decided to look into exactly how B i g Sibs are selected and share information about the applicant makeup with the student body.

Our concluding statements are based solely on the results, and our goal is to provide clarity to those who are interested in the application process.

The Big Sib Chairs denied us access to their admissions data, but we utilized the sample left exposed in their acceptance and rejection e-mails. The chairs did not bcc names, meaning applicants could see the names and e-mail addresses of all other applicants. We were able to gather the information of approximately half of the applicants and organized this list by gender and race. Applicants whose race or gender were unknown were not factored into our results; however, that number is relatively low. Though the sample is incomplete, our data points were chosen without selection bias, and all percentages are representative of the larger applicant population. We extrapolated data for the other half of the rejected pool. u Bea

REJECTED:

By AMY HUANG, ZOE OPPENHEIMER, and AMANDA PENG

Overall, 32 percent of all applicants were accepted into the Big Sibs program.

Out of a total of 146 male applicants and 252 female applicants, 40 males and 78 females were accepted into the program (27 and 30 percent, respectively). There was a 52 percent acceptance rate for Caucasian applicants and a 25 percent acceptance rate for Asian applicants.

When considering race and gender together, the acceptance rate for Caucasian males was found to be the highest at 68 percent. This may be partially accounted for when taking into consideration that they were the smallest group to apply, with only 21 people. Caucasian females had an acceptance rate of 47 percent, and Asian females had an acceptance rate of 19 percent. A similar trend is observed with males: Asian males had a relatively low acceptance rate of seven percent. Overall, acceptance rates increased if applicants were Caucasian and female and decreased if applicants were Asian and male.

These percentages are not insignificant—especially the difference in acceptance rates between genders and race—and lead to a number of possible implications. Two of the Big Sib chairs gave insight into the program’s relatively obscure and subjective admissions process.

Each applicant who submits a written form is allocated an interview with two Big Sib chairs—the most important part of the application process.

The interview is quirky; it includes an icebreaker, when inter viewees must present a prepared creative opening such as playing a song on the ukulele or sharing baked goods. They also ask scenario questions—What do you do if your Little Sibs tell you that another Little Sib has really bad B.O.? What do you do if a Little Sib asks you how to get tickets for the SING! After Party? What do you do if your Little Sib asks you out?—which are meant to gauge an applicant’s personality and test his or her abilities as a good Big Sib. A large part of being a Big Sib is initiating conversations with freshmen and providing sound advice.

Senior and Big Sib chair Bo Xuan Wu said, “Successful applicants can hold a conversation. When we ask them questions, they let their personality shine through. They maintain eye contact. They seem relaxed.”

As a Big Sib, comfortability is important, especially if you have to connect with someone you just met. Senior and Big Sib Chair Jennifer Lee added, “When I sit in

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front of somebody and I ask them to talk about themselves, I look for how comfortable [you are when] I am asking you questions—how comfortable [and open] you are in sharing parts of yourself. Being open, being confident, being real and genuine, and just being very personal. If you’re sharing experiences that mean a lot to you, we can feel that.” The interview allows the applicants to paint their personalities through tone, shared experiences, and overall vibe.

But the reality is that not everyone possesses these desired qualities or has grown up in an environment that encourages them to. “[If ] you’re getting raised in an Asian household, stereotypically you’re more sheltered,” Lee said. This doesn’t mean that such students don’t score as high as those who grew up with a different upbringing. “It was more than just being reserved. [...] Their lower scores weren’t necessarily because they were quiet, but more because we felt like they weren’t being open or connectable,” Lee added.

From a national standpoint, this situation crosses into the discussion concerning college admissions, specifically involving Harvard and other elite schools. A little over a month ago, Harvard University’s affirmative action practices went on trial in the Federal District Court in Boston, continuing a lawsuit first filed in 2014. The plaintiffs, Students for Fair Admissions, accused Harvard of discriminating against Asian-Americans and holding them to a higher standard than applicants of other races. The plaintiffs also claimed that the university resorts to racial balancing to diversify its incoming class and manipulates “aspects of its admissions process, especially nonacademic gauges—including a ‘personal rating’—that are hard to quantify,” Anemona Hartocollis wrote in a New York Times article.

Harvard acknowledges shaping its incoming cohort racially, but the university denies using racial quotas to accomplish that.

In response to the accusation that Harvard had not considered race-neutral alternatives in its admissions process, the school argued otherwise and stated that eliminating race as a factor would cause an “unacceptable decline in diversity,” Hartocollis reported.

The focus on discrimination against Asian-Americans brings attention to a trend in Harvard’s admissions rate that also appears in that of the Big Sib program: even though Asians constitute a large portion in the applicant pool, they experience the lowest acceptance rate. On average, significantly more whites apply to Harvard than Asians. This correlates with Asians having lower acceptance rates than whites. Nearly three times as many Asians applied for the Big Sibs program as whites, yet they experienced a significantly lower acceptance rate (25 percent compared to 52 percent).

“When you guys brought up that the Big Sib pool does not really accurately represent the Stuyvesant population in terms of diversity, I didn’t realize that. When that was brought to my attention, I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s kind of true.’ I can tell you for sure that race was definitely not a factor when we ac-

cept or reject Big Sib applicants,” Wu said.

Lee affirmed, “We don’t keep a tally on how many of our Big Sibs are white or Latino or black or Asian. We just take applicants as who gives us the best energy, who would be a good Big Sib.” Wu said, “Right now, I’m applying to colleges. You hear all these people complaining about campuses not being diverse. I don’t think that’s what Big Sibs is about. I don’t want people to see the Big Sib process as a college process. Big Sibs is a program [in which] you help your Little Sibs. It’s not like college.” Lee agreed, “I love this program, and I don’t want it to be like that.”

Steps have been taken toward neutrality: the Student Union began administering blind applications this year, and the Big Sibs program grants each applicant an interview.

However, unlike the college process, students are interviewing each other in the Big Sibs admissions process. This is inherently subjective, though it should not serve as an attack on the chairs.

Junior Jevina Wong shared her experience with the admissions process. Prior to the interview, Wong took great steps to present herself as a qualified candidate. She sought the help of her own Big Sib, who gave feedback for her responses during their practice interviews. Despite her efforts, she was not prepared for how her interview turned out.

“Going into the interview, right off the bat, it didn’t seem like my interviewers were interested in what I had to say,” Wong said.

“It’s just not a good feeling to be in an interview and already feel like you don’t have a chance. They weren’t listening—they were being distracted by two other chairs—which I thought was unprofessional.”

While leadership qualities are sought in both the Big Sibs and Harvard admissions processes, it is also important for both groups

to have a balance in temperament. The Big Sibs are the first people freshmen meet, and there are Little Sibs and college students alike who connect easier with those who are more reserved. “Quieter applicants are definitely important in the Big Sib program because they can be more personable with Little Sibs [who] may also not be that outspoken,” Lee said in an e-mail interview. “I definitely think while you can be quiet and also really open about sharing, it seems that outspoken applicants are often better at conveying their personal experiences in a connectable way,” Lee said.

Though Lee attests that the chairs don’t look for only one type of personality, a line is drawn between being quiet and being “not connectable.” She said, “Some of the white applicants I didn’t take might have not been more reserved, but were in the same way distant and not connectable.” Since the data shows that the acceptance rate for Caucasians is twice that for Asians, it seems that there is a preference for white applicants, not because of the color of their skin, but because of their personalities. Lee explained, “From my memory, I definitely remember [shyer] Asian interviewees who seemed a little more distant and not connectable, or maybe it’s just because a lot of my applicants were Asian because of the nature of Stuy.”

For an overwhelming majority of the Asian applicants to be rejected because of their temperament brings attention to Lee’s earlier comment about being raised in an Asian household. The stereotype of Asians being more timid seems to pertain to those who were rejected. Most of their parents are immigrants, and historically, they have adopted reserved personalities to avoid trouble while trying to make it in America.

Asian-Americans are raised with the same discipline: study hard and stay out of trou-

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Jane Rhee / The Spectator

ble. Knowing this from childhood makes it harder for them to break free of that pattern; however, there are Asians who, despite being raised by the same generation, have been influenced by this generation and by liberal New York. They have learned to be more outspoken, creating variety and individuality among Asians of the same generation. It can still be difficult for them to be recognized, however. They are often hidden behind stereotypes.

Wong has naturally been outspoken. As novice director for the speech team, she has worked with underclassmen and aimed to be a resource and guide that they can turn to.

Her main motivation for wanting to be a Big Sib came from having an invaluable experience in the program and finding the need to give back to that community. “[My Big Sib] was always there for me and supported me emotionally and academically. [He] would take the time to get to know [who] I was,” Wong said. “The only way I could thank him is to follow his example and project what he has done for me in the best way I can.” For these reasons, Wong was invested in becoming a Big Sib. “I was positive. I was being as enthusiastic as possible, outgoing, inviting, showing [my interviewers] that I really care about this,” she said.

Despite her qualifications, Wong was ultimately rejected from the program. “It really crushed me,” she said. The same motivation that encouraged Wong to apply in the first place pushed her to go through the appeals process. “Already getting rejected once is bruising,” Wong added. “I knew going into it that this process was much more selective.” Applicants who wanted to appeal were required to submit an additional essay.

Generally, the Faculty Oversight Committee (FOC) reviewed each essay and selected

for the process.”

“I just felt so awful having let myself down and having let my Big Sib down, who reassured me so many times that I hadn’t [disappointed him] and that he was still so proud of me for putting myself out there,” Wong said. Having faced two rejections from the program, Wong serves as an example of an outspoken Asian who is unfairly hidden behind stereotypes.

Looking at the entire population of Stuyvesant, the focus extends beyond Asian stereotypes: the proportion of Latinos and blacks in our school population is also reflected in the Big Sibs applicant pool. “It’s a

The focus on discrimination against Asian Americans brings attention to a trend in Harvard’s admissions rate that also appears in that of the Big Sib program: even though Asians constitute a large portion in the applicant pool, they experience the lowest acceptance rate. a few applicants for a second interview with the FOC only.

The fact that those accepted through the appeals process were mainly white turned the focus away from procedure and toward race.

“Being an Asian applicant, I felt like that disadvantaged me,” Wong admitted. “Being a majority [in Stuyvesant] does not help you, because you seem faceless and easy to blend in with everyone else [the chairs] see, and you have to find a way to distinguish yourself. [...] I don’t think my white peers have to have the same things in mind when applying

problem that [the program] is not extremely diverse, but then again, Stuy is not really a diverse school. A lot of underlying issues should be talked about. I think [that in] everything in high school—clubs, organizations—there are mishaps and weird proportions for everything,” Lee said. The racial breakdown of Stuyvesant’s student body is out of the hands of students, but prioritizing diversity within student organizations is not.

Increasing diversity at Stuyvesant will be a long and unpredictable process, but changes can be made to certain policies. For exam-

ple, the cap of 150 Big Sibs limits the variety in temperament and restricts the number of spaces needed for accepting more applicants from each race. “The 150-cap on the Big Sibs has always been a rule. The program could be larger, but because of the number of homerooms we have, we don’t want to overwhelm the freshmen with 10 Big Sibs. Five to seven is usually enough,” Lee explained.

But tradition could be broken. Considering the shortage of Big Sibs at many events such as Open House, increasing the cap will be helpful. Assigning more Big Sibs to each homeroom wouldn’t necessarily be overwhelming; it means having each Big Sib interact with smaller groups of Little Sibs, fostering an environment for creating more personal relationships.

The Big Sibs program is an interactive and highly valuable resource for underclassmen and one that has certainly come a long way since its conception. But it should have a group of males and females of all races and temperaments—one that is more representative of the Stuyvesant community. What the Big Sib Chairs look for ultimately places Asian students at a disadvantage, but having been raised in a certain environment shouldn’t work against them in the admissions process.

The fact that Asians who are shy in nature still apply for the program shows a degree of genuine commitment that shouldn’t be ignored. The dichotomy within the Asian community shows that members experience personal growth at different points in their lives. We encourage readers not to perceive our statements as baseless criticism. This is the first unified attempt at making the Big Sibs admissions process more transparent, and we hope that applicants take advantage of knowing what the Big Sib Chairs look for to better prepare for the interview.

Tiffany Zhong / The Spectator

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Members of the 2018-2019 Stuyvesant math team.

Where Are the Girls in Math Team?

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hey had that one guy. That’s the reason they won—because they had him.”

That’s what a group of boys said to our team of seven girls and one guy when we prevailed in a practice math team competition. They didn’t credit the win to the many female sophomores on our team who were in higher grades and knew advanced math concepts or to our cohesiveness and fluid teamwork.

They credited the win to the single guy on our team.

I had never before been exposed to such blunt sexism. The isolation I felt as a member of the math team prior to this day escalated, and the experience emphasized how unwelcoming STEM classes can be. I started attending the after-school practices less frequently, un-

By erin lee

til at some point I stopped going at all.

This experience is just one small part of the larger issue that girls on math team face.

The current freshman team has 31 girls out of a total 68 students; the freshman math team last year had far more members and relatively fewer female students: 45 girls out of 125 students. Meanwhile, the sophomore team has 15 girls out of 60 students, or 25 percent. The current senior team has only four girls out of 25, which is 16 percent of the team, and the current junior team has two girls out of 21, which is less than 10 percent. Advanced math classes such as Multivariate or Complex Calculus show similar yet less extreme statistics, with percentages of girls ranging from 24.5 to 43.5 percent.

Head coach Jim Cocoros, who also coaches the New York City Math Team (NYCMT), recently returned to his position after six years and recognizes the lack of women in math team. “If you keep on going through to junior and senior year, a lot of girls seem to drop out for one reason or another. It’s something I’ve asked the girls on the team why that is, and I could never get

an answer that I could put my finger on,” he explained. The class of 2020 has seen a drop from 36 female students in freshman year to 13 students in sophomore year to a mere two students in junior year. Based on enrollment data from the last 2.5 years, 38 percent of the freshman math team is female; however, this number plummets to 17.5 percent in junior year. Though the percentage somewhat rises by senior year, the sharp decrease in female representation does not fully recover.

There are a number of possible explanations for this drop. Math team may intimidate students because of the class’s fast pace, its broadly taught topics, or the stress induced by many timed contests.

Many students may naturally lose interest in math team due to other pursuits or classes, especially in junior year. However, these possibilities cannot fully explain why boys continue with the math team class more often than their female counterparts.

And while it might be tempting to attribute male retention to a greater natural ability for math, boys actually do not outperform girls on the team.

Page 8 Math team holds five practice meets for freshmen and sophomores, and advisors decide NYC Interscholastic Math League (NYCIML) teams based on those standings. The freshman math team is 46 percent female, and out of the top 13 freshmen scorers, about half are girls. In comparison, there is only one girl out of 12 on the senior standings. In addition, there are numerous examples of female students who do extraordinarily well, such as Lori Leu (‘18). In fact, Leu’s academic proficiency prompted her math team teachers to break the tradition of giving separate math team awards for boys and girls and give her the overall award.

A more likely reason for the lack of female representation in math team may lie in the distinct behavior of boys and girls. Math teacher Stan Kats is a coach for the team at Stuyvesant as well as for the NYCMT. He has personally seen the differences between the behaviors of girls and boys and how this impacts the atmosphere of the classroom.

“The boys are louder, and they say—and I say this respectfully—they say stupider things, all the time,” Kats said. Though this generalization doesn’t apply to all boys and is almost never seen among upperclassmen, boys dominate class discussions and the overall atmosphere. They frequently raise their hands for questions before they are even asked and compete to write the solutions to problems on the blackboards, while girls tend to be more cautious and reserved.

It can be more difficult for a girl to speak up and raise her voice when the male students control the tone of the classroom.

Math teacher Debbie Goldberg noticed this trend as a former math team advisor during her 20 years of teaching. In her math classes, girls are more likely to seek additional help than boys. Out of the 13 students she has tutored so far this term, only one was male.

Goldberg noted that boys are more willing to ask questions and voice their concerns during class, which may explain why fewer boys ask for tutoring.

Though they do not intend to discourage the participation of girls, boys can inadvertently do so through their desire to impress teachers with their knowledge of advanced math concepts. “Each year, girls tell me they find this behavior intimidating. One year, after hearing a boy on math team mention the Cantor ternary set (an advanced and highly sophisticated topic in point-set topology), a girl in the class told me she thought she didn’t belong there,” Goldberg said in an email interview.

Senior and math team captain Milan Haiman agreed that the behavior of boys, especially their competitive nature, has unintended consequences that may contribute to the lack of girls on math team. “Some of the guys in math team don’t behave very well, and their attitude is not very supportive of a good community,” he explained. “They’ll grow and be more mature by the time they’re seniors, but it’s a little too late by then.”

A majority of female students do not stay on math team long enough to see their male peers become more respectful and selfaware, nor do they often return once they leave. “If you have a bunch of people in a class that are going to be not just loud, but abrasive, it creates an atmosphere where [you question] ‘Why would you want to talk against a backdrop like that?’” Kats said.

A former student of Kats’s, Hannah Field, was one of the brightest students he had ever worked with. Though he recommended that Field join the highest level team, she turned his offer down, citing concerns about being surrounded by boys, who made up most of the team. She feared that she would not be able to integrate herself into the group or match its level of intelligence.

Despite Field’s lack of confidence, her achievements are numerous and noteworthy.

She is currently enrolled in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and attended the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOP), a highly prestigious and intensive summer program held at Carnegie Mellon University that invites top finishers of the USA Mathematical Olympiad. In addition, she qualified for four olympiads during her high school career and even made the United States Physics Olympic Team.

Despite these impressive accomplishments, Field could not be assured that she truly belonged to the highest level sub-team.

Though Field’s self-doubt may have been due to her own personality, a lack of confidence is a prominent issue that has been consistently noted in girls on the math team.

Girls similar to Field revealed to Goldberg that they were uncomfortable doing math relays—a team event where the answer to the first question is vital to answer the next question, until the last person in the relay obtains the final answer. The students were worried that they would let down their teammates when they could not solve a problem and thus jeopardize the following answers to the relay. Only the girls expressed their worries about failing to do well due to this pres-

sure. While girls are more willing to voice their concerns, boys are less afraid to give the wrong answer or make a mistake.

Senior and math team captain Hanna Yang also displayed this uncertainty when she was chosen to become a leader. “I’ve always had anxieties in math team about being selected for a team or being a captain just because I’m the only girl in my grade,” she said. “I was worried that I was chosen just because I was a girl, not because I had the right qualities to be captain.”

Girls will question whether they were placed on math subteams or given positions due to their own merit or to their gender. Boys can be assured that their invitation to a competition is based on their skill, talent or competence. Girls do not get that same impression, simply because the scarcity of women in math team leads them to believe that they were invited only due to a need for female representation.

The math team had an all-girls NYCIML team that won the city competition in 2014.

However, some of the members might not have enjoyed the label that was placed on them.

Instead of being seen as a talented team that did well, they were viewed as the “all-girls team.”

But many girls on math team are truly talented, and Cocoros found that “girls tend to be more patient with problems and think through the problems a bit more than the boys do, and the girls are more amenable to attacking problems in more than one way.”

However, he added, “If that’s true, [...] it’s a shame because it’s driving away the people who would thrive later on,” as competition problems seen in later years require more time and thought.

Page 9 Despite all the challenges, math team is a rewarding experience—both academically and socially—that many girls miss out on when they decide to drop out.

In many upperlevel classes, strong bonds form among the members of the math team, who help to support each other.

Junior Nancy Kuang always felt welcomed and respected by her classmates. “The people you meet in those courses [...] really push you to challenge yourself [...] Some of my closest friends are on math team, and they really encourage me to talk more,” she said.

Members of math team also discover the class is much more than learning problem-solving skills. “Working together and seeing how other people think is even more valuable than getting high scores on contests and top rankings at competitions,” Kuang said.

Yang agreed and revealed that her experience on math team gave her a new mindset. Ariel Levy (‘16) credited math team as a critical experience for her because it encouraged her to apply to and eventually attend MIT as a computer science major. Even if a student doesn’t pursue a STEM career, developing critical thinking skills through math team has impacts in many future careers.

Years on the math team can build lasting friendships and most likely encourage students to remain on the team. “If you look at the top girls [who] have been on the math team for all four years, part of the reason that they remain is that they’re very close to the other kids,” Kats said. Inversely, those who

see their friends drop out of math team are more inclined to follow them and not return.

While having many female peers provides a more welcoming and less isolating environment, having role models can promote a continued pursuit in math team. Annique Wong (‘15) and Katherine Oh (‘14) were role models for Levy and many of their underclassmen. “It’s really important to be able to see older role models that are like you in areas you’re interested in and want to pursue further, because [...] then, it’s easy to picture yourself also succeeding in the same way,” Levy commented.

Similarly, a scarcity of role models can severely damage female representation in the following years and trigger a negative loop.

If girls don’t see their female upperclassmen taking advanced math electives or continuing with math team, they do not have a clear guide or inspiration to follow. And if these

female representation in math team and preventing girls from dropping is no easy feat.

Though the math team realizes the significance of the issue, there isn’t a clear solution. Solutions such as an all-girls math team practice or an all-girl team will not fix the long-term issue that still stands. Instead, it will further separate boys and girls in math team, who will be working with members of their gender rather than with each other.

In addition, choosing teams based on gender or reserving a number of seats in AP Calculus classes for girls may not be fair and would not sit well with students. When taking initiatives toward gender equality in math team, administration and students should be aware of the fine line between promoting female participation and patronizing quotas.

Members and advisors of the math team are trying to remedy gender inequality through various changes. Senior math

Girls will question whether they were placed on math sub-teams or given positions because of their own merit or their gender. Boys can be assured that their invitation to a competition is based on their own skill and talent or their competence.

students drop math team, then there are no role models for the next generation of underclassmen. Should this trend persist, girls on math team will become scarcer and scarcer.

Improving female retention in math team for all four years would encourage others to continue with it as well through positive reinforcement. But promoting more

team members are entering freshman and sophomore math team classes to create personal connections between upperclassmen and underclassmen. Advisors and students hope that these increased interactions will expose underclassmen—not just female underclassmen—to potential role models as well as create a more inviting environment.

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his initiative can be taken even further, however. If the math team sets up a mentoring system where underclassmen could bond with and familiarize themselves with upperclassmen, girls would get the opportunity to be more exposed to potential role models. Being able to talk one-on-one with a role model has a much stronger impact than seeing him or her at the front of the room solving a problem.

By putting female under- and upperclassmen in contact, younger girls could express their concerns to their female peers, who could provide advice and encourage them to continue being on math team for their high school career.

We still have much to improve. But revamping the environments of math team and other STEM activities, as well as openly discussing the concerns female students

We still have much to improve. But revamping the environments of math team and other STEM activities, as well as openly discussing the concerns female students may have in them, can spark real change.

may have in them, can spark real change.

“I’m hoping that [female students] find a reason to stay, that they choose to stay, and I think as they progress, they’ll get something more out of it. I hope that they’ll come on Fridays to our practices [so

that] it’s a more close-knit environment on Fridays,” Kats said. “I’ll keep fighting for more girls on the team. I’ll keep fighting and I hope they stay. I really do.”

Hanna Yang / The Spectator

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ON THE N-WORD

Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

William Lohier, senior

By WILLIAM LOHIER Black people can say it. Everyelse is absolutely forbidden.

These two rules serve as the beall and end-all when it comes to the appropriate usage of the n-word.

The n-word, perhaps more than any other word in the English lexicon, carries uniquely traumatic and dehumanizing connotations that have led many to argue for the eradication of the word entirely.

While it may seem simple, it’s not.

From the first day I walked into Stuyvesant, I quickly discovered that for many students, using the n-word seems to not only be socially acceptable, but also commonplace, especially among East and South Asian-Americans at Stuyvesant who make up the majority of the student body.

Similar to the way African-Americans will sometimes refer to each other using the n-word, I often hear groups of friends flinging it around in the hallways and one

around their lockers. This has led to some (at best) awkward situations. Someone will casually say “nigga” to a friend, notice me, a Black student, then briefly and awkwardly apologize and extricate themself from the situation as quickly as possible.

English teacher Minkyu Kim recalls having a very limited experience with the n-word at Stuyvesant. “I’ve heard it like, four times since I was here, […] from students passing in the hallway, talking to their friends,” Mr. Kim said. “The first time I heard it, I sort of […] yelled at the kid in the hallway. I mean I didn’t attack the person, but it upset me. And every time since, I’ve addressed it,” said Kim, when asked about how he dealt with encountering the word at Stuyvesant.

Alumnus Eugene Thomas, on the other hand, who is African-American, recalls everything from a “boy who yelled ‘nigger’ for shock value, to a boy who casually described his brother as having ‘nigger lips,’ to the countless kids who are so

quick to raise their hands in APUSH to read the antiquated excerpt about how the white man is superior to the inhuman ‘negro’ race because they are eager to make these statements in a classroom setting free of repercussions,” he said.

Incidents like these, while dismayingly common, indicate two things. First, whether they admit it or not, students who actively use the n-word at Stuyvesant are very aware of the offensive and derogatory nature of the word. Second, many nonBlack students feel completely at ease using it around other students despite that knowledge. This phenomenon creates a highly uncomfortable and often toxic environment for Black students at Stuyvesant.

While Asians are a minority in America, they make up the vast majority of Stuyvesant’s student population. Black people make up less than two percent of the student body and an even smaller percentage of faculty and administrative staff.

Page 12

Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

In a school that is severely ill-equipped to deal with the obstacles that Black students face, the constant use of the n-word renders Stuyvesant a far more toxic environment for Black students than it already is. Moreover, its use serves to oppress and exclude the voices of Black students, such as alumna Sammie Paul, who finds that the presence of the n-word indicates of “a huge lack of consideration for the feelings and opinions of Black students at Stuy.” She doubts that students “would use it […] if the population of Black students at Stuy were higher,” she said.

Consider the fact that, while Black students make up the second largest demographic of New York City public schools behind Latinx students, they are the most underrepresented racial demographic at Stuyvesant.

The use of the n-word reaffirms what many Black students are already led to believe: that we do not have a place or a voice at Stuyvesant, an effect that exacerbates the chronic underrepresentation of Black students that Stuyvesant grapples with.

“If you know it’s wrong, and you would not say it in front of a Black person, then why say it at all?” alumna Venus Nnadi asks. “Many non-Black people take advantage of our school’s almost non-existent Black population and can get away with using the n-word.” However, most students who become accustomed to using the nword will not find an equally understanding environment outside of Stuyvesant.

Using the n-word not only degrades Black students, but is also a way for the Asian community to appropriate Black culture, a well-catalogued phenomenon.

From Eddie Huang, the chef and author of the memoir “Fresh Off the Boat,” who took refuge in blackness as a counterculture, to Brian Imanuel, whose former stage name, “Rich Chigga,” raises eyebrows for obvious reasons, the American obsession with Blackness has become entrenched in the Asian American community as well.

Many Asian students take refuge in Black culture as a trendy alternative to the constrictive stereotypes that are commonly attributed to Asians, especially in STEM-heavy schools like Stuyvesant.

Hip-hop and rap, for example, have had a significant impact on Stuyvesant’s culture despite being forms of Black art

Venus Nnadi ‘18

Change means standing up and empowering the voice of the Black minority at Stuyvesant by speaking up if you feel uncomfortable hearing the word (even if you’re not Black).

and expression at an Asian-majority school.

As a result, many non-Black Stuyvesant students feel the n-word is appropriate to use because it loses its derogatory meaning when taken out of the context of Black culture. However, Kim explains, “The idea that that word has been reappropriated by the hip-hop community does not then give liberty to people to use it liberally.”

This mentality is made evident by a Chinese American senior at Stuyvesant, who explains that to him, the n-word is just part of “modern teen culture,” he said.

This student elaborates that the n-word has become a cornerstone of the vocabulary of many Stuyvesant students—both white and Asian—because “the cool kids say it, and everyone else just follows,” he said. “It’s just something picked up from hip-hop.”

Page 13

His mentality reveals a complete ignorance of the word itself, as well as utter disregard for Black and non-Black students and faculty who find the word offensive, such as Jean Joun. A Stuyvesant alumnus who currently studies at George Washington University, Joun explains that “there’s a reason Eminem never used it. If it was a hip-hop thing, Eminem would say it all the time, but he doesn’t. He avoids it completely.”

“Nigga” is not a hip-hop thing; it’s a Black thing that Black people have reappropriated after centuries of being degraded by it. The n-word is appropriate to say for Black people because of the shared recognition and knowledge of the trauma the word carries when used by others both colloquially and derogatorily. As senior Ashley-Ann Burnett puts it, “If you don’t have nigger

Elena Sapelyuk / The Spectator

It means giving credence and acknowledging the verity that comes of experience when Black students do speak up about the constant use of the n-word.

Eugene Thomas ‘18

history, if your ancestors were not enslaved, if you are not at risk of being called a nigger at any time, it’s not your word to use.”

It would be offensive for me casually use slurs directed at other minority or marginalized groups because words take on meanings within the context that they are used. When used between Black people, “nigga” is acceptable because it has been reclaimed by Black people. When used by non-Black people, it is violent and offensive. You cannot reclaim a word that has never been used to degrade you.

Even if a Black person has explicitly given a non-Black person permission to use the n-word, said non-Black person does not have the license to use it outside of that specific relationship. The traumatic connotations the word has do not disappear with the approval of a Black friend.

A single Black person cannot speak for the experiences of Black people as a whole.

Students feel comfortable saying the nword because they are surrounded by others who feel comfortable hearing it. As a result, there are few instances of students receiving disciplinary actions for having said it. Paul explains, “The belief that there will be no ‘real consequences’ for the usage of the word empowers many students to disregard the small percentage of students [who] are uncomfortable or offended by their language and disregard for historical implications.”

It is striking to think that the n-word is such an integral part of the vocabulary of students at what is touted as one of the best public high schools in New York City; that despite American history being a required course, the aforementioned Chinese American senior feels comfortable saying the n-word because he believes it “has no racist connotation, […] no real derogatory meaning,” he said.

Comments like these represent a marked failure by Stuyvesant High School students, faculty, and administration. Stuyvesant as a whole needs to not only condemn the use of the n-word at our school, but also to speak up and educate one another about our country’s history, not to mention general appropriate conduct. We shouldn’t need to take an American history course to know the racist and dehumanizing nature of the word some of us use every day.

The fact that I will most likely continue to hear the n-word in the hallways of Stuyvesant on a daily basis even after this article is published is both demoralizing and exhausting to contemplate. The fact that I have ac-

It means not laughing off those Facebook posts divulging how uncomfortable Black students often feel, but recognizing the fact that they reveal a far deeper problem with Stuyvesant’s culture. cepted that Stuyvesant’s culture surrounding the n-word will likely not change during my time here is saddening. The fact that this article is the first time I have spoken up about the constant use of the n-word at my school, for fear of being labelled annoying, angry, or simply being laughed at, is infuriating.

Changing the culture at Stuyvesant cannot be accomplished by a tiny minority of Black students shouting from the margins; it will only come as the result of widespread action. English teacher Heather Huhn spent a class devoted to discussing the n-word before teaching Huckleberry Finn (in which it is used profusely), and we can learn from that.

Teachers, students, and administration need to stop waiting to hear the n-word to condemn it. They need to actively speak up against a culture and a word that creates a hostile environment for their Black peers.

After reading this article, strike up a conversation about it with someone; bring it up in your English or history class; find time to make a lesson plan surrounding it; or talk to a fellow administrator about ways to plainly condemn the use of the n-word at Stuy.

Change means standing up and empowering the voice of the Black minority at Stuy by speaking up if you feel uncomfortable hearing the word (even if you’re not Black); it means giving credence and acknowledging the verity that comes of experience when Black students do speak up about the constant use of the n-word; it means not laughing off those Facebook posts divulging how uncomfortable Black students often feel, but recognizing the fact that they reveal a far deeper problem with Stuyvesant’s culture.

Conversations like these are a necessary first step toward creating a safer school environment for Black students. However, dialogue surrounding the n-word only scratches the surface of a deeper issue. As long as Black students are so underrepresented that they have no say in how their own culture manifests at Stuy, racially insensitive remarks will continue, and the rampant use of the n-word will continue.

Vivian Lin (‘18)

Students Mayor Bill de Blasio has recently set forth two proposals to combat a lack of racial diversity in specialized high schools. The first would expand the Discovery Program, which allows low-income students scoring just below the cutoff to attend summer classes and gain admission to specialized high schools.

20 percent of available seats will theoretically be reserved for this purpose. The second is to replace the SHSAT with a program that would allot spots in specialized high schools to the top seven percent of students in each middle school based on class rank and state test scores. These proposals are intended to increase the percentage of black and latinx students to a projected 45 percent of each graduating class.

Both proposals would inevitably take seats away from Asian American students and students attending middle schools that have historically sent large numbers of students to specialized high schools, often called “feeder” middle schools.

The Editorial Board has interviewed and documented the opinions of current Stuyvesant students, alumni of the school, teachers, and parents to gain a sense of how students who currently benefit from the admissions system are responding to these proposed changes.

Jocelyn Tang, senior What was your SHSAT preparation like?

I prepped at 8th Avenue at A+ Academy during the summer after seventh grade and the fall of eighth grade. I felt like I wasn’t the best in my class, but I managed. One of the most memorable moments was when we took a test, and afterward, our teachers gave expectations of where you would get in. One of them told me, “You’d be lucky to get into Staten Island Tech.”

Were the people in your school aware of the SHSAT and what the specialized high schools were?

I think so. When scores were released, everyone was really nervous. In Twain, everyone said, “Stuy or die,” and after they got in, they said, “Stuy and die.” We were all aware and stressed about it, and I remember in our school, they had after-school where they gave some prep for the SHSAT. The prep was open to everyone in my school, and it might have been encouraged. I think my school may have automatically signed everyone up for the test.

Do you feel the SHSAT was a good measure of your academic success at Stuyvesant?

No. I did really [poorly] on the SHSAT and basically got the cutoff score. I thought I would fail and be very sad every day because

I thought the SHSAT would be very reflective of how I would do in Stuy.

“In Twain, everyone said, ‘Stuy or die,’ and after they got in, they said, ‘Stuy and die.’”

—Jocelyn Tang, senior Camilla Green, junior I never thought I was [going to go] to a specialized high school. At my middle school, it was kind of like, the smart kids took the SHSAT. Usually, a few people got into Stuyvesant or Bronx Science. Rarely, people went. I went to a super small, progressive private school, so as you can imagine, specialized high schools were never really a perfect fit for students entering ninth grade. Everybody taking the test was from a wealthy background and honestly didn’t have much stake in it. If we didn’t get in, we would just go to a private school.

Except when private school admissions are determined by your connections, your family wealth, and how well you interview, [we] “smart kids” couldn’t always guarantee we would end up at one of the top NYC private schools that everybody told us we should be going to.

Cullen Lee Ye, sophomore There are many variables that go into determining who gets in this top seventh percentile. One huge example is behavior. The SHSAT does not judge students based on their behavior, but only their objective academic brilliance. Many kids are still going through major changes during this portion of their life, so many use high school as a chance to get a new start. Many use it as a clean slate to better their character. I know I did.

Scott Abramowitz, senior I remember a conversation in Mr. Sandler’s class last year about the three-fifths compromise, and people were justifying putting it into the Constitution because of the need to get all the states on board, and then Mr. Sandler asked us, “If there was an African American person in our class, would you be saying the same thing?” I think that hit a lot of people

Page 15

and it made sense because our answers would be different, and people would consider it more and think about it from different perspectives. Diversity is definitely important to have, but getting rid of the test wouldn’t be the solution and wouldn’t be treating the heart of the problem.

Camilla Ffrench, junior (Ffrench currently attends Beacon High School, and was formerly a student at Stuyvesant High School) How was your experience with the SHSAT, and did that at all have any correlation with your experience at Stuyvesant?

I was fortunate enough to have a private tutor to study for the SHSAT, with whom I practiced beginning in September once a week until the test in October. These two months of test prep helped me significantly; however I felt that if I did get into Stuyvesant (my top choice), I deserved it not only because of the test, but because I was an academic student and the valedictorian of my middle school. I did get in and ended up doing well in Stuyvesant, with an average of 97 my freshman year.

However, I ended up leaving Stuy and transferring to Beacon halfway through sophomore year, not because I was failing out, but because the school was just not the right place for me. I wanted an education more focused on critical thinking and individual students rather than multiple-choice test scores and admission to top colleges. The latter was my experience with Stuyvesant, which I saw [was] created by both the administration and the student body—and was certainly perpetuated by the SHSAT admissions process.

I remember orientation my freshman year; when we met with our homerooms, I was asked during my first conversation about my test score on the SHSAT. I thought to myself, “We all made it in, why does that even matter?” Yet the idea of the test was still present in many of my peers’ minds, perpetuating a competitive atmosphere. So even though I did well in Stuyvesant on paper, it didn’t appeal to all aspects of my personality.

Perhaps this is my fault, and I should have known [during] the tour in eighth grade what I was getting myself into, but I value my time at Stuy and value the fact that I knew when that time was over. I also will admit there was a part of me that applied to Stuyvesant to see if I could get in—to wear that prestigious nametag that says, “I got a top score on the SHSAT and go to one of the best high schools in NYC.”

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Leonard Melnik, junior

(Melnik attended online school for most of seventh and eighth grade, excluding a two week stint at a private Montessori school.

Leonard’s private school required him to go on a week-long trip which he didn’t have time for, so his dad just pulled him out of the school.)

I had a set schedule for every single day. Every single day was prep planned out: whatever it was had to be reviewed here, break here, and I also went to A+ Academy. And when it got to the beginning of the school year, [...] that time where SHSAT prep and school mixed together, that’s when I went to this private Montessori School and I was prepping. I was still doing A+, so as soon as school ended at 3:30 p.m., [...] I’d be driven straight to A+, and then I’d come home really late and still have to do all my homework and everything of the sort.

And how would you say school helped you with that? Did you learn enough in school to just take the SHSAT without prep?

Not at all. School was detrimental to the process. Because the methods [needed were unlike those for] the SHSAT, [which] had different concepts, different kinds of math, different English skills you needed to learn.

“School was detrimental to the process [...] the SHSAT had different concepts, different kinds of math, different English skills you needed to learn.”

—Leonard Melnik, junior Sarai Pridgen, sophomore I actually volunteer as a coach for StuyPrep.

That’s a mentoring/tutoring group dedicated toward helping minority kids who can’t afford test prep or are maybe in a situation in which test prep isn’t immediately available to them.

They usually come from minority groups like blacks and Latinx, but there are other ethnicities there as well. I go every Saturday to Stuy and stay for three hours or so to help kids prep for the SHSAT. The reason why I do it is I have really, really, strong feelings when it comes to the SHSAT. I’m a person of color. [...] I’m black [...] so when I first got to Stuy, it hit me how big of a racial difference there [was] at this school.

Not only because of the statistics, like obvi-

Parents RongJie Guo, mother of seventh grader at Christa McAuliffe I.S. 187

What was the primary factor that urged you to push your children to attend one of these specialized high schools?

I want both of my children to attend specialized high schools because I want them to be better off financially. My generation had to work hard jobs in order to make money and support our families. I hope that a better education and a more competitive atmosphere will motivate my children to pursue better career choices in the future. We actually moved from Richmond, Virginia, to New York City two summers ago just so that my son could have an opportunity to go to one of these schools.

and with the mayor’s new proposal, these dedicated students will not be given the opportunity to further their studies in the future.

Many of my friends [whose] children are also in feeder schools are now worried because they realize that their children may [not] rise above others in terms of academic performance in these competitive feeder schools. [...] And for those children who undeservingly got accepted into these schools simply because they attended an easy, underperforming middle school, it will only be harder for them because the workload at many of these specialized high schools is huge. [...] This is not an issue about racial diversity. The moral of the story is no pain, no gain. You work hard, you get in. You slack off, you get rejected and you go somewhere else.

What was your initial reaction to the mayor’s top seven percent proposal?

Do you believe that family background plays a role when it comes to student admission into one of these schools?

I was and still am upset because this will reduce the number of students who attend specialized high schools from feeder schools, and my son is one of those students. This is a form of discrimination against the Asian-American community because many Asian-American children study extremely hard for the SHSAT,

Yes and no. Yes because family motivation and knowledge of these schools are important to a student’s success. Many parents do not actually know of the SHSAT until the very last moment. Children are playful. Sometimes, it takes some pushing to get them to where they should be. And the answer to your question

ously there aren’t a lot of black people at Stuy, but it also hit me when I heard people use the n-word around the hallways and when it became funny to make black people jokes all the time. People got so desensitized to it because they weren’t surrounded by other people who would feel affected by that. And I think a lot of kids at Stuyvesant let that slide. It’s not just that there are a lot of feelings of alienation that I’ve seen occur sometimes—not always though. I think in general, Stuy’s a pretty welcoming environment, but I definitely have been in situations in which I’ve seen people use inappropriate words that are typically [used to describe] black people, and I’ve seen other black students just have to deal with it, which is really messed up.

I think that the way that students prep for the SHSAT has to be changed. I think there is a great inequity between students who can afford to buy test prep and buy tutors and pay for all these costly means of preparation versus kids who are forced to study using material provided by the DOE. I think the DOE isn’t doing enough to provide these materials, and I think the DOE refuses to acknowledge this fundamental problem within the school system. I think that middle schools and lower schools in neighborhoods or areas in which the families are low-income and can’t afford to send their kids to private schools are facing worse teachers; the education they’re getting isn’t up to par, and as a result, kids aren’t getting into these elite schools like Stuyvesant.

It’s really messed up and creates this awful inequity of very small groups.

can be no also, because economics are not important. A large part of the Asian-American community works for minimum wage, and many of us do not even speak English. Because we as parents know these struggles, we make sure to prepare our children from the very beginning. If you do not have the money to send your child to tutoring companies, you should buy cheaper workbooks for them.

Both do the trick because they both involve doing more practice problems and becoming more familiar with the test questions. [...]

It’s really the amount of dedication and hard work that matters.

Anonymous, mother of senior at Stuyvesant High School

I think that the SHSAT has its pros and its cons. The SHSAT is beneficial to a vast amount of people who are smart, but lack qualities of standout students. In only having one test to get into the specialized high schools, people don’t have to worry about having interviews, report cards, and recommendations to determine their admission. It gives way for smart people who didn’t excel in middle school to have a second chance. If you

are really smart and didn’t apply yourself so much previously, it gives you an opportunity to start fresh.

One way in which I disagree with the SHSAT and standardized tests in general is that peo-

ple should have a limited amount of preparation. Some people come from middle schools where they [have] prepared for the SHSAT for two years while others have no previous middle school preparation. The playing field isn’t leveled if people have the time to master

Teachers

Daniela DiGiallonardo, seventh grade Do you think it’s more on the part of midSocial Studies teacher at Mark Twain I.S. 239 for the Gifted and Talented

If passed, the mayor’s plan will definitely hurt schools like Mark Twain. As the proposal would accept the top seven percent of students from every school in the city, parents would more likely want to send their [children] to a school where it would be easier for them to be in the top seven percent. Mark Twain, being a very competitive school with many high-achieving students, would not be that choice. I am afraid that this plan would change Mark Twain permanently, as we would no longer get as many applicants who wanted to get into the specialized high schools.

The SHSAT test, in its latest iteration, is probably a better metric than it used to be in determining whether or not students should deserve admittance into the specialized high schools. Honestly, I am conflicted on the answer to this question.

As a parent who benefited from specialized schools both for myself and for my children, it is hard for me to criticize these types of tests. As an educator, however, I am well aware that many tests seem to favor one specific type of student over another.

The original test, with its scrambled paragraphs and logic questions, tested students on things that they did not learn in school.

Therefore, students who could afford test prep were at an advantage over students who did could not. The new test, which focuses more on skills that every student learns in school, seems to level the playing field.

Looking at it from the specialized high schools’ perspective, for many, many years they have been churning out graduates who have been incredibly successful. From that point of view it seems that the test has been successful and has achieved its goals in finding those students who could succeed in the rigorous programs at schools such as Stuyvesant. That does not mean, however, that the process hasn’t left behind many other students who, if given the chance, could have been successful at those schools.

Rosemary Polanco, Stuyvesant High School history teacher

dle schools to improve their education?

I think it starts even earlier. I have a son who just started middle school in District 3. It’s incredibly competitive, and I’ve been competing for schools for him since kindergarten. We’ve been through lotteries and very expensive test prep. How many parents can put that type of money in the game for kindergarten? Not many. So already you’re cutting off a whole group. Then there’s middle school: the open houses, the interviews…I had to take multiple days off, and thankfully, I have a supportive community here at Stuy that understood what I was going through. How many parents can take these days off from work to do all this?

So already you’re seeing that there’s a real unfairness in the process. I think it starts before middle school because if they’re getting a good kindergarten education, it goes on and on…it all builds up.

What do you think about the lack of diversity at Stuyvesant?

Well first, I think we need to define diversity, because the reality is that we look at Stuyvesant and we think it’s mostly Asian. But it’s very pan-Asian[…] So I think we do have diversity, but it’s from one region of the world, and I think people are rather shocked by that.

At the same time, there was a time when the faces that walked this hall were not diverse— in another direction. And I wonder if people were really that concerned when that was the case.

Victor Greez, Brooklyn Technical High

School (‘78), taught previously at The Bronx High School of Science, and current history teacher at Stuyvesant High School Based on your experiences as a student at a specialized high school and as a teacher at Stuyvesant, do you believe the SHSAT is a fair indicator of student’s abilities?

Well, it’s as if you picked your college students just based on your SATs. I think [...] it would be important to add your grade point average and your attendance, and perhaps some other specialized tests just in case so you have more of [a] rubric. But there’s also a cost factor. I mean, you have 18,000 students. You’d love to interview some of them, you know you’d love for them to give you a writing sample, you’d

Page 17 the format and style of one single test. In order to excel at Stuyvesant, you have to be able to learn information quickly; you can’t study for years for every single test. If you spend so much time preparing for one test, it doesn’t reveal your true intellect.

love for them to have a writing component to the test, but logistically is that feasible? So I think under the circumstances, it’s pretty clear as to what’s going to be on those exams and what to do [...] and I think that when you prep for it, you’re enriching your skills.

Do you believe there is a problem with diversity at Stuyvesant?

There’s income diversity here. Close to 40 percent of students at this school qualify for free lunch, and so when you look at this, when you look at Stuyvesant, I think that it’s important to note that even though there is a diversity here, this is not Birch Waltham; this is not Horace Mann. This is not a white, elite school. These are kids whose parents work in laundromats and work as waiters and work as cab drivers.

I also think that it’s really important to note that kids, underrepresented minorities, are recruited by private schools and boarding schools and Catholic schools and are given scholarships and all sorts of opportunities.

But the poor Bangladeshi kid and the poor Chinese kid are not given those opportunities because there are wealthy Chinese and [there] are wealthy Asians, and those schools aren’t underrepresented. So this is a path, this other path is not open to them, and now you go trying to close this path, and I think that’s really closed-minded.

You have to be a certain type of kid to come to Stuyvesant. You have to be a kid who wants to travel, you have to be a kid who, in a sense, is ready for college because everyone is motivated, and so they’re not going to get pushed, they’re not going to get coddled, so in some ways, at least from an education standpoint, it’s sort of an impersonal machine.

“This is not a white, elite school. These are kids whose parents work in laundromats and work as waiters and work as cab drivers.”

—Victor Greez, teacher

S

20%

By 2020

Discovery Program Increases Black and Hispanic Enrollment by Six Percent

By Talia Kahan

ince Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement last June that he was seeking a change to the state law that implements the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT), politicians have focused on the pros and cons of using a single test for admissions. In the midst of this debate, Stuyvesant has enacted a program that it hasn’t deployed since 2004: the Discovery Program. Through this program, nearly two dozen students who scored below the cutoff score but showed potential for success at Stuyvesant became part of the incoming freshmen class this year.

The Department of Education will be expanding the programs at all the specialized high schools to 20 percent of the incoming freshman classes next year. At Stuyvesant, the program will increase from 23 students to about 160 students. This substantial increase in the number of students being admitted through the Discovery Program means that proportionately fewer students will be admitted based on their scores alone.

A program that leads to seats being offered to students with lower scores on the SHSAT rather than to students with higher scores will likely invite criticism by people who believe the exam is a purely meritocratic system. In fact, the Parents Association from the IS 187, the Christa McAuliffe School, have sued New York City on their proposed expansion of the Discovery Program.

However, expanding Discovery also creates the possibility that the student body at Stuyvesant may better represent the broader ethnic and geographic diversity of our city. In addition, the Discovery Program may shift the debate about the SHSAT; with the expansion of the program, people who felt an urgency to revise the admissions criteria and eliminate the SHSAT might reconsider the need to overhaul the current admissions system.

The Discovery Program has its roots in the same law that requires students to take a standardized test to gain admission into one of the specialized high schools. The 1971 New York State law states, “Admission to the Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant High School, and Brooklyn Technical High School [...] shall be solely and exclusively by taking a competitive, objective, and scholastic achievement examination, which shall be open to each and every child in the city of New York.”

The law also provides that “the special schools shall be permitted to maintain a discovery program to give disadvantaged students of demonstrated high potential an opportunity to try the special high school program without in any manner interfering with the academic level of these schools.”

In order to qualify for the Discovery Program, students must meet each of the following criteria: 1) score below the cutoff, 2) be certified by the student’s local school as “disadvantaged,” 3) be recommended by their local school as having high potential, and 4) attend a summer preparatory course administered by the high school. Assistant Principal Casey Pedrick, who spearheaded the program’s reestablishment with guidance counselor Shakira Rhiman, explained that the term “disadvantaged” refers to students from low-income families or students who have been in the United States for fewer than four years.

Establishing a Discovery Program in all the specialized high schools is one part of the plan Mayor de Blasio announced last summer to increase diversity at the specialized schools. The other change de Blasio proposed was to eliminate the SHSAT and replace it with a holistic approach including middle school grades and state test scores.

After this bill was passed in 1971, the Discovery Program was implemented at Stuyvesant. However, former Principal Stanley Teitel ended the program during his time at Stuyvesant. Former Principal Jie Zhang did not institute the program. According to the Wall Street Journal, Zhang thought that beginning the new system without statistics assessing its impact might jeopardize the excellence of the school.

Principal Contreras said that he does not know why former administrators decided to stop participating in the Discovery Program but thinks ending it was a mistake. Contreras pointed out that, “Discovery is part of the Hecht-Calandra Act [of 1971], it is part of the current law and [...] system for admitting students to specialized high schools.” According to Contreras, because Discovery was an element in

Page 19 the original vision of the lawmakers, Stuyve- ficult for the program to dramatically increase Stuy.” sant should have been carrying out that part the percentage of black or Hispanic students At the end of the program, students were of the law. Contreras explained his view of the admitted. For the city-wide Discovery pro- evaluated, and all of the students were acceptDiscovery Program’s goal and said, “Discov- gram, whites and Asian students comprised ed into Stuyvesant for September. Pedrick exery was put in there with a purpose to try to 78 percent of the participants, while black and plained, “It became very clear to us very early make sure that there was an equitable system Hispanics made up barely 20 percent of the on that all of these students were very dedithat allows access to students who didn’t have students. cated and would be wonderful assets to the means and resources for prep or tutoring.” community.” Contreras also spent time with By 2015, Stuyvesant, the Bronx High The Program in Practice the students and noted the high and mature School of Science, and the High School of level of their discussions.

American Studies did not have active DiscovStudents came to Stuyvesant for three The participants provided very positive ery Programs. Over the following three years, weeks over the summer and attended classes feedback about the program. One participant the Bronx High School of Science and the that would prepare them for freshman year. explained, “It was very organized, and the stuHigh School of American Studies implement- Teachers Eric Ferencz, Lisa Daniel, and Mari- dents [knew] what the expectations were, and ed the Discovery Program. anne Prabhu taught English, math, and many tried to reach them. I had a Principal Contreras said that he wanted to biology, respectively. Principal Eric lot of fun, and I really loved restart Discovery last year before the means Contreras explained, “We actuthe fact that the teachers of admission became a political issue. “This ally tried a model [curriculum that taught in the proThe Department of is nothing about the political conversations; to show what biology looks gram really pushed Education will be expanding this is about what I think as an educator is like [and] what math looks the fact that we 100 the right thing to do,” he said. With Stuyve- like. [We showed them] the percent need friends the programs at all the specialsant having restarted the Discovery Program actual content that they to survive at Stuy!” ized high schools to 20 percent this year, all the specialized high schools are are going to face.” Prabhu The students also of the incoming freshman now using it as another means of admitting used activities from Tufts mentioned that classes next year. At Stuyvesant, students. The participants were selected solely Medical School, includRhiman emphathe program will increase from based on their SHSAT score and where they ing one where students sized time manageranked Stuyvesant among their preferences on designed a drug, evaluated ment as a key to suc23 students to about the SHSAT. The Discovery Program is simi- which one was best, and cess at Stuyvesant.

160 students. lar to the SHSAT in that the specialized high thought about what next steps Although the Specschools have no say in which students they they might take to develop the tator respects the interviereceive. drug. Students received individual wee’s request to remain anonyWhile the goal of the Discovery Program feedback but did not take any tests or remous, the fact that the student fears was to make sure that students with fewer re- ceive any official grades. the stigma associated with the Discovery Prosources to prepare for the SHSAT had the opStudents also worked daily with a guid- gram demonstrates the perceived prevalence portunity to get a seat at one of the specialized ance counselor on social and emotional skills, of Stuyvesant’s elitist attitudes. schools, another purpose of the program was including learning to advocate for themselves.

However, the participants seem to be to increase the diversity of students attend- Pedrick explained that students were engaged dealing with this pressure well, as one student ing the schools, specifically the number of in workshops and learned “techniques and has even told some of their classmates. The black and Hispanic students. Contreras elabo- habits that they could start over the summer student explained, “[I feel] a bit [of pressure] rated, “I think that Discovery can be part of [and] bring with them in September, such as because when I first came into Stuy, I found the larger work that can create enrollment at organizational skills, time management skills, that I had to prove myself but then I’m a just Stuy[vesant] that more mirrors not only our [and skills for] reflecting on their day.” The a regular Stuy student. I am doing good.” Furcity, but [also] our larger society […] It’s really guidance component also helped students thermore, the student can have a conversation important to expose yourself to diverse ideas, bond with each other, creating a support sys- with any peer without feeling uncomfortdiverse backgrounds, [and] diverse opinions tem that would assist the students once school able by the alternate method of admission to when it comes to geography [and] when it started.

Stuyvesant. comes to race.”

Big Sibs played an active role in this proThe only complaint that the participants The expansion of this system gram as well by helping with instruc- supplied was that switching from their Dishas contributed to Stuyvetion and answering the participants’ covery Program teacher to a new teacher for sant’s overall diversity. 10.4 questions about what life is like the academic year was challenging. They said percent of the graduating at Stuyvesant. Junior and Big that because the same material is taught very 10.4 percent of the class of 2022 admitted Sib Vishwaa Sofat explained differently by each teacher, it became difficult graduating class of 2022 students were black or that his role was to “be to maintain consistency given the varying apadmitted students were Hispanic, while blacks there as somebody who proaches. and Hispanics make knows Stuyvesant from a Because the participants are still at the beblack or Hispanic. […] up nearly 70 percent student’s perspective,” he ginning of their Stuyvesant careers, it is difIn the 2015-2016 school of all public schools said. According to Prabhu, ficult to determine conclusively how effective year, only four percent in New York City. In the Big Sibs’ participation the program is. However, teachers’ and adminof students were black the 2015-2016 school in Discovery enhanced her istrators’ initial impressions of the students or Hispanic. year, only four percent lessons. She noted, “I had at Stuyvesant have been positive. Prabhu deof students were black or one Big Sib [who] asked good scribed, “When I see the students in the hall, Hispanic. questions when we made glucose they are all waving and smiling and happy, and However, because the only molecules; she asked them what would that’s a pretty good indicator to me that they basis of eligibility is a “disadvantaged” happen if we put them together. She really feel welcome here and are happy here.” status, which has no relation to race, it is dif- knew how to guide them through learning at

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Credit to Anne Gu

A Celebration of Subtle Asian Traits

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By Jane Rhee

y Facebook feed has recently been completely taken over by memes that deal almost exclusively with bubble tea, handsome Korean oppas, and the unique struggle of growing up in an Asian household. And I am so here for it.

My friend Michelle recently added me to the “subtle asian traits” Facebook group, which was started in September 2018 by a group of 12 Melbourne college students who met (quite fittingly) at Chinese school. Their goal was to start an online group that would cater specifically to the small details that only their fellow young Asians would understand and appreciate. Three months later, there are now 900,000 members in the online group and thousands of posts that can only be described as

extremely niche—and extremely Asian.

Despite the name, there is certainly nothing subtle about the way this Facebook group has grown in popularity and relevance. The beauty of the group, and undoubtedly one of the reasons for its explosive growth, is the fact that for the first time for me and many of my peers, Asianness is the default. There has historically been little room for non-whites to find a niche that didn’t immediately feel like a form of self-ostracization. In “subtle asian traits,” being Asian isn’t shameful. It isn’t exotic. It isn’t a subject for fetishization.

To be fair, a number of the jokes posted in the group do rely structurally on deeply ingrained stereotypes—think: the overprotective and conservative parents, the “no dating until marriage” trope, the rice all day, every day mantra—but even those have been rebranded and now have a different mouthfeel. The jokes don’t contribute to the same flat, unimaginative caricature of Asian culture that is so prevalent. Even the ones that would be the most banal in any other context feel fresh and new because detailed and personalized self-caricaturization is in-

herently more personal and much more real.

Take, for instance, the meme about the common East Asian monolid. Instead of serving as a cheap and racist dig about the

The beauty of the group, and undoubtedly one of the reasons for its explosive growth, is the fact that for the first time for me and many of my peers, Asianness is the default.

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size of Asian eyes, the meme touches on a problem that the small population of East Asians with double eyelids have—after a night of crying or eating salty foods, usually just one of the eyes will be swollen enough to turn a double eyelid into a monolid for a

But real life is the basis of satire. day and cause a moment of brief hysteria upon discovery. (If you were wondering, the best solution is to put a cold washcloth over your eyes before you go to sleep. That will bring down the swelling in the morning considerably. If all else fails, wear your glasses).

I remember tagging Michelle immediately after seeing the meme, writing, “I never thought I would see a meme about this.”

T

with the classic name shame, I never felt comfortable talking about it with anyone else, let alone laughing about it. “Subtle asian traits” changed the game for me and 900,000 other people, and that is nothing short of amazing.

There has historically been little room for nonwhites to find a niche that didn’t immediately feel like a form of self -ostracization.

And just for the record—my middle name is Yeawon (yes, similar to “Yeah!

I won!” as many people have pointed out)—and it roughly translates to “the best.” Talk about a badass name.

Credit to Justin Chiu

hat actually seems to be the general consensus among all members of the Facebook group. The majority of us seem to be in some state of sheer amazement that there have been thousands of people experiencing the same race-specific life experiences as we have, even though on a conscious level, it seems obvious. The sheer novelty (and subtlety) of it serves as a communal source of pride and even some form of exclusivity.

To be an Asian-American still means being some part Asian and some part American.

The group certainly does not serve to merge the two or find a happy medium. On the contrary, it encourages Asian-Americans to stop defining their sense of belonging by how similar they are to their white friends and to be proud of the hyphen in their name.

At the same time, it’s impossible not to notice the phenomenon of self-censoring and self-restraint that that many second and third generation Asian-Americans contribute to, usually unknowingly. Even within a group that is supposed to make light of shared Asian experiences, there seems to be a hypersensitivity about how people of other races

will see the jokes—I always see a number of comments left by people who are worried that the content might be overly dismissive of and mocking toward white people (who are often depicted as shamelessly ignorant of Asian geography, language, and culture).

This self-consciousness isn’t surprising, considering the fact that most young Asian-Americans have never been in a position where they are able to comfortably satirize parts of their lives to an audience of their peers. But real life is the basis of satire. And because Asian-Americans have had to deal with culturally ignorant people throughout their whole lives, the satire is not only appropriate, but also refreshingly honest and representative of all the small moments that color our lives.

The posts in the group have reminded me of some of my own small moments.

I recently remembered how I used to be reluctant to tell other people my middle name because it’s Korean. My peers used to make a big deal about not being able to pronounce it or would insist on calling me by my “other name” once they found out what it was. I remember wishing that I had a “normal” middle name (Claire was the name of choice for probably a solid five years).

And even though I have always gone to schools with sizable Asian populations, and have certainly not been the only one familiar

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The Shifting Dynamics of Student Union Elections

By Maddy Andersen and Erin Lee

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The Spectator analyzes the different factors that play into Student Union elections and how these trends have changed due to the rise of social media.

or many Stuyvesant students, the Student Union (SU) is a mystery.

In casual conversations, and with varying degrees of humor, the words ‘SU’ and ‘corrupt’ can typically be heard in the same sentence, and the SU is often viewed as a clique, with the same people getting elected and holding positions year after year. Its elections as a whole are seen as popularity contests and its uncontested elections, especially for prominent SU offices, are perceived as undemocratic.

Despite its reputation, the SU strives to accomplish the wishes of Stuyvesant’s students and ensure that the voice of the student body is heard in all discussion of school policy. “The SU is an organization that bridges the gap between students and administration.

We provide them with communication, and we provide them with updates throughout the school year. We pursue policy and different events,” junior and SU Vice President Vishwaa Sofat said.

In the past few years, the SU has successfully allowed students to go outside for lunch and free periods and wear sweatpants instead of shorts for P.E. Members of the SU have provided students with free subscriptions to the New York Times and the Financial Times.

This past school year, the SU launched StuyActivities. It also oversees SING! productions every year and manages the budget for all of Stuyvesant’s clubs.

Despite these accomplishments, the student body does not often have a positive perception of the SU. “We’re not always successful, which is why a lot of students don’t think the SU can do a lot,” Sofat said. But even though members of the SU are not always able to carry out intended policies or implement changes, they still work to support and represent the student body. Senior and SU President William Wang and Sofat, along with senior and School Leadership Team (SLT)

Representative and Chair Joshua Weiner, represent the student body on the SLT, a committee made up of administration, teachers, parents, and students.

Wang has been involved in the SU since his freshman year and was Deputy Chief of Staff his junior year. Sofat was president for his Freshman and Sophomore Caucuses and Weiner was the SLT Alternate last year.

Though these three representatives have had previous roles in the SU, they are not the only ones. Experience is common among SU leaders, and is often a compelling factor during election season. Many have experience working in the SU prior to their current appointments.

Having experience allows leaders to continue projects and work with already developed connections and relationships. “We have a pre-existing relationship with Contreras, SLT members, and SU members, and that gave us a platform to stand on top of, this idea of ‘we have things that we’ve been working on and we can continue to push through and get through if you give us the chance,’” Junior Caucus Co-President Zeynep Bromberg said.

Though students with experience are often strong candidates, seeing the same people holding office can lead to what we call dynasties—consecutive terms where the vice presidents become presidents the following year—within the SU. The last two SU elections have been uncontested, which contributes to apathy and uncertainty within the student body.

Additionally, though Freshman Caucus elections often have many tickets, the number of tickets often dwindles by senior year as certain students establish themselves as figures in the SU. Coordinator of Student Affairs (COSA) Matthew Polazzo suspects that this lack of candidates could be due to something unex-

pected: Facebook. “Back when I was COSA my first go-around, elections were more competitive. The last two SU elections, nobody ran against them. And the reason why I think that happened was because there was a lot of politicking that happened before anyone even voted,” he said. “It was almost like a social media primary.”

Much has changed within Stuyvesant in the past 100 years since its establishment in 1904, and in fact, there are clear differences within the past decade. The rise of social media and the prominence of Facebook in Stuyvesant culture have not only changed the way students interact, but have also indirectly affected SU elections as well.

Many tickets use Facebook posts and polls as an effective way to campaign. In the most recent Freshman Caucus election, posts circulated through Facebook and polls were used to maximize outreach and gauge student interests in certain policies. “Facebook platforms really helped us a lot. [...] In one social media post, we were able to put all our initiatives for people to read them,” Freshman Caucus Co-President Cynthia Tan said. The analytics of her Facebook page with Co-President Emma Wong showed that their posts were seen by over 1,000 people.

For some campaigns, online campaigning is more important than in-person campaigning. “We did all of our campaigning over Facebook and Instagram. I didn’t put up one poster either of my elections,” Sophomore Caucus President Corr said. She sees Facebook as a “primary way to reach students because almost everybody had a Facebook account.”

Campaigning over Facebook allows tickets to communicate directly with students.

“You control what you are saying. You are the one that edits what you say your policies are and how you choose to present them. It isn’t word of mouth, so it is more difficult

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Jane Rhee / The Spectator

Left to right: Matthew Polazzo, Nina Jennings, and William Wang in the Student Union office

to have misunderstanding arise,” Sophomore Caucus Vice President Ayala Sela said.

Being able to effectively communicate with your grade is a skill that is crucial both before and after getting elected, and Facebook activity is often seen as a trial run for running a caucus. “If you’re doing well on Facebook, whatever that means, that translates to qualities [...] that are necessary for caucus representatives,” Bromberg said.

Facebook is an integral component of Stuyvesant’s culture, especially during elections. “So much of Stuy[vesant]’s communication happens online. There’s a set of unofficial traditions when election season comes around,” Bromberg said. “Facebook actually, if you utilize it properly, can have a tremendous effect on your campaign.”

The power of Facebook may be more than just a means of campaigning, however. During prior elections, “it became very clear on social media which candidates were gonna win, which candidates were gonna lose. By the time that [...] social interaction was done, someone kind of waltzed into the throne room so to speak,” Polazzo said.

“With social media, people have a much better understanding of kind of where they stand and who’s sort of up and who’s kind of down.”

The rise of social media’s involvement in elections may influence individuals not to run because they can easily see the likely outcome of an election and because becom-

ing a student leader requires a new set of online self-promotional skills. This could in turn lead to uncontested elections, dynasties, and ultimately, a lack of democracy. The SU has seen only three dynasties from 1969 to 2003—45 years. However, the SU has seen six dynasties since 2004, the year Facebook was created.

The site can negatively affect elections in other ways as well. “Facebook definitely has a large influence. I don’t think it is the best influence, especially since Facebook promotes the idea [that] caucus is purely just a popularity contest,” Wang said. “I feel like people are too invested in scrolling through Facebook, so whenever they see a multitude of ‘vote for this specific candidate,’ it becomes different [from] actually looking through policy and actually looking at different web pages.”

The majority of the student body is considered politically apathetic and ill-informed about the day-to-day workings of the SU, but there are ways to counter that. Taking steps to recognize changes that have been occurring in the last decade—both the entrenchment of a select group of individuals and the subconscious role of online campaigning in elections—could change the current preconceptions of Stuyvesant’s student government and lead to more student involvement within the SU. It is time that the student body steps up and takes a more active role in electing and feeling confident in the students who represent them.

Gender Dynamics in the SU Earlier this school year, The Spectator compiled a complete list of Stuyvesant’s SU presidents and vice presidents, going back to 1969 when the school first became co-ed. This is what we found.

In the past 50 years, there have only been seven female presidents and 14 female vice presidents. The last female president, Jamila Ma (‘08), held office 10 years ago in 2008, and there were only two female presidents in the 10 years prior to her presidency. In addition, while the SU had 10 female vice presidents from 1986 to 2000, Stuyvesant has only elected four female vice presidents since then.

Though many SU terms do not see female presidents or vice presidents, female representation seems to be common in caucuses. Female students seem to occupy leadership positions at a smaller scale in the student government, but they seldom attain leadership of the entire student body.

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Transitioning Judaism

“

As I was researching this article and interviewing leaders in my community, I realized that none of their opinions or the antiquated facts really matter to me. If I want to be and identify as a Kohen, then I will.

When I was younger, I used to go to High Holiday services with my entire extended family. In traditional Conservative suburban shul fashion, it was boring and impersonal, with one rabbi talking to hundreds of disengaged people. At one point, the rabbi would call all Kohen to the beema. My dad and grandpa would rise out of their seats and join a group of a dozen men. The first time I was in the adult services and saw this ritual, I asked my mother what it was. She explained to me that my dad was a part of the holiest lineage in Judaism, traced back to biblical times.

The Kohen were the original hereditary priests of Judaism, before the Temple burned down and rabbis became the leaders, priests, and teachers of the Jewish community. The Kohen can trace their lineage back to Aaron, who was the brother of Moses and the first Jewish priest.

Holding special status, both religiously and socially, Kohen were the only ones who could enter and make the sacrifice on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

Today, Kohen do not perform many religious ceremonies, though they do officiate smaller and more cultural ceremonies, such as a specific baby naming called Pidyon Haben. In Orthodox communities, Kohen must abide by different rules, for example, the requirement to avoid death and cemeteries, with the exception of the death of close family members.

However, the Kohen also have more obscure rules, such as specific marital laws.

They are prohibited to marry a gentile, convert, or a Jewish woman who has had intercourse with a non-Jew whether or not she has been raped. If any of these rules are broken, a Kohen could lose his priestly status.

Kohen are the sons of Aaron, and are always male. In fact, all Kohen can be genetically traced back to Aaron through the haplotype on the Y chromosome. Though in biblical times the daughters of the Kohen men, called Bat Kohen, enjoyed some privileges, they lost those rights if they married a non-Kohen man. They were not considered Kohen by themselves, only a

part of the family of a Kohen.

When I first learned that my family had been Kohen for literally thousands of years, I was in awe. I have always had a connection to my Jewish heritage, and this felt like a validation and proof of this.

Then, as I asked more questions, I learned that, though my father was Kohen, I was not. This was the first time any aspect of Jewish religion and culture had been denied to me because of my gender. We had a female rabbi, a female cantor, and I’d had a bat mitzvah, things that would never be allowed in an Orthodox synagogue, and only in some Conservative synagogues.

Throughout the Torah, there is inherent sexism. Most well-known is the story of Adam and Eve, where only Man is made in the image of God, and women are blamed for the sins of humankind. However, there are even more obvious examples in the Torah. For example, in Genesis 3:16, God says that men will “rule over” their wives. In Leviticus 27:3-7, God assigns a numerical value in shekels to both men and women, with women having a lower rate. In Deuteronomy 22:23-24, it says that if a woman is raped in a town, she must be stoned to death as she “did not call out.”

In my family, the Kohen line ends with my generation. In my father’s generation, all of the sons had girls, so there are no boys to inherit the Kohen role. My father doesn’t seem to care, since when we joined a Reform synagogue, his Kohen status was meaningless. However, my grandfather still attends a Conservative synagogue, where he participates in Kohen ceremonies at the High Holidays every year.

There is an argument to be made that I can define what a Kohen means to me. If it were not for Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan and his daughter Judith in 1922, girls would never have had bat mitzvahs. In 1972, Sally Priesand became the first female rabbi.

As the Jewish religion grows and evolves with the changing times, things that were traditionally forbidden now become commonplace. By this logic, if I want to be a Kohen, I could simply call myself one and that would be the end of it.

When I spoke to Rabbi Deborah

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to Today Hirsch of the Village Temple, she disagreed.

The Village Temple is a Reform synagogue, and Rabbi Hirsch was raised Reform. She argues that there are already laws pertaining to the Bat Kohen, and thus a daughter of a Kohen cannot simply ignore the fact that there are already specific instructions separate from those of a Kohen. . However, she said, “I would always tell a child that you are part Kohen whether a tradition accepts it.” Rabbi Hirsch herself was ordained in 1982, only a decade after Sally Priesand.

At the time, no female teachers taught at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which is the primary Reform seminary in the Americas. Rabbi Hirsch also said that as a rabbi, she’s seen so much change, and “what it’s going to be thirty years from now, I have no idea, but there is clearly a breakaway from orthodoxy.”

However, the Orthodox community, which is where the Kohen title matters, would not accept this. They believe that the rules of Judaism are permanent and timeless, unaffected by modern changes.

At its most basic level, Judaism has an inherent preference for sons. Women have far more restricted rights, such as strict rules of modesty, and are forbidden from roles of leadership in synagogues.

In the original Temple of Jerusalem, women were not allowed to enter the more holy areas. Men wanted sons, who would learn and study the Torah. Though Judaism was passed down through the mother, the women were effectively separated from any religious importance.

Sexism is inherent in most religions, since they are from a period before female empowerment and equality.

Though some aspects have adapted to suit the modern world, others are more resistant. As women who come from ancient religions, it is always an uphill battle to receive respect and

status equal to the male counterparts. This is difficult to achieve, especially as most religions have a long history, and do not want to change.

However, religions, especially Judaism, must adapt to represent the people.

Today, no one follows true Biblical Judaism, as it is neither practical nor is it truly appealing to today’s Jewish people. Religion serves a different purpose today than it once did, as science, knowl-

By ZOE OPPENHEIMER edge, and value systems change. Judaism has changed to reflect that, particularly in the role and representation of women. Though things are growing and changing for the Jewish religion as a whole, religion and belief is a personal thing. As I was researching this article and interviewing leaders in my community, I realized that none of their opinions or the antiquated facts really matter to me. If I want to be and identify as a Kohen, then I will.

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Diversity in Depth: An Analysis

By Artem Ilyanok Stuyvesant’s demographics are constantly scrutinized by the public, with particular attention paid to the fact that approximately 70 percent of the school is Asian. However, this vague statistic obfuscates the truth hiding beneath the surface: the student body is incredibly diverse, with students from more than 50 countries and every inhabited continent on the globe.

Just over half of Stuyvesant’s Asian students are ethnically Chinese; they hail from both urban and rural parts of China and speak a variety of Chinese dialects. The rest have roots in a vast array of countries including Bangladesh, India, South Korea, Vietnam, Armenia, and Indonesia.

Similar diversity is found in the approximately 20 percent of Stuyvesant students who are white. Most come from Eastern Europe, with Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish students making up the largest part of this demographic. However, there

are also Stuyvesant students who are British, Albanian, Portuguese, and Swedish.

Over 80 percent of Stuyvesant students are either first-generation immigrants or have parents who are. Approximately a quarter of students live in Manhattan, a borough typically associated with higher rent and income.

The greatest number live in Queens, with just over 40 percent of Stuyvesant students residing in NYC’s largest borough. However, these students are fairly dispersed, with no more than a quarter of Stuyvesant students who live in Queens occupying a single district.

About a third live in Brooklyn, with a large number of these students being concentrated in District 20, which includes Bay Ridge and 86th Street. Only a fraction of students live in Staten Island, making it the borough least represented among Stuyvesant students. *This survey was conducted anonymously via a Google Form survey, drawing approximately 500 responses.

Student Distribution

By Borough

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of Stuyvesant’s Demographics

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