By Chandler Fattah

During this time of heightened focus on racial disparities, a spotlight has been shone on race relations within our own community. Current and former Black students are sharing their stories of prejudice, inequality and ignorance at predominantly white independent schools. Students are fed up and many are wondering: Is a stellar education worth the emotional cost of attending these institutions? Why must students of color be forced to choose between a school where they feel welcome and safe, and a school that will give them the education that every child deserves? Most importantly, what are schools doing to improve conditions for Black students?

One place where Black students are finding their voice is on Instagram. An SCH alumna, Singley Risico, posted an uncensored account of her time at the school. In her post, Risico mentions racial slurs written on the bathroom stalls as well as the well-documented incident in which an SCH teacher wore a noose to an on-campus Halloween parade. Additionally, Risico claims that the school rarely punished white students for acts of racism.

“They would never punish those who donate[d] and paid full tuition,” Risico said.

Another account, BlackMainlineSpeaks, shares anonymous stories from Black students. A student from Friends’ Central School wrote that they had been called the n-word by white peers as early as kindergarten. An Episcopal Academy student alleged that a boy told them that “n****** these days are getting too uppity. When my grandfather was a kid, y’all knew your place.” One Penn Charter alumni shared an experience from their sophomore year chemistry class, when a white student fashioned his hood after the infamous KKK robe, and told her that he was “the KKK letting know [she doesn’t] belong here.”

Jazze Wingard, a rising junior at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, was not surprised by these stories.

“Going to a predominantly white school, of course there’s always going to be instances of racism that are not exactly recognized,” Wingard said. “So I think it’s nice that they’re coming to light now and that more people are becoming aware of it. But I myself am not surprised because I’ve heard some of these stories before.”

Wingard believes that her school has not done enough in the wake of racist incidents.

“I think even before all of this was happening, the school should’ve been doing more,” shesaid.

Wingard also said many of the stories were posted by alumni, suggesting that this has always been an issue. In fact, according to a BlackMainlineSpeaks post, an old yearbook photo from Episcopal Academy depicts that year’s senior prank: half the class dressed as Klansmen, and the other half wore blackface.

“Especially seeing that a lot of these stories are from alums, there are a lot of people in the comments saying ‘oh yeah, this happened to me too!’ and comments from current students saying ‘this is still happening today,’” she said.

When asked if she felt comfortable at her school, Wingard was unsure of her answer.

“There’s definitely a lot of misogynoir,” she said. “I think being a woman at SCH already is tough, and being black is tough, so that combination is just really hard.”

Wingard made clear that this was not an issue specific to SCH, but rather the plight of all predominantly white schools. “I would like to see them do more, actually create a plan, or steps, I don’t know. I just think there is more that should be done”.

Dr. Stephen Druggan, the head of school at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, said the school is taking proactive measures to ensure that the campus becomes a welcoming environment for all of its students. He said that in response to the murder of George Floyd and the civil unrest that ensued, a board level task force was established.

Druggan said the purpose of the task force and its sub-committees is to “ensure that we are living our mission.” The SCH mission statement emphasizes the school’s dedication to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment, as well as their desire to affect positive change in the world. He also emphasized the lack of diversity in terms of faculty and promised that changes were on the horizon.

SCH is one of the most diverse independent schools in the area, with more than 30% of its student body made up of non-white students. Druggan touched on this, saying “our faculty was not equal in diversity to our student body.”

When asked what he would say to black students who felt that the school hadn’t been harsh enough in its punishment of white students accused of racism, Druggan said he would first listen to their point of view.

 “We need to work out ways that we can ensure transparency in discipline, but also protect people’s identities. Because, when people go in front of honor council and the judicial board, that’s private. But that means sometimes people assume that nothing happened. Maybe it did. We’re not perfect, we make mistakes.”

Druggan asserted that he did not feel defensive over past actions. During our interview, Dr. Druggan asked what I, as an SCH student, would like to see change at the school in the next year. When I brought up my hope that the task force would find a way to bridge the different racial groups together, Druggan said that he believes an inclusive community begins in the classroom.

“Because when kids go to class, they expect to learn and they’re more vulnerable. So we have to make sure that our curriculums are really bringing those diverse viewpoints together.”

Furthermore, black students wouldn’t be the only ones to benefit from a more diverse faculty. “It’s also really important for our white students to have teachers from different backgrounds and of different races, because as a student you should be taught from multiple perspectives, and from teachers who have different experiences”.

In all, Dr. Druggan sees his school’s diverse student body as a blessing.

“We’re fortunate to have a student body that doesn’t all look the same, doesn’t all come from the same zip code, don’t all vote for the same party,” he said. “That’s healthy; that’s America at its best.”

Despite his positive outlook on his community, he recognizes the work we must all put in moving forward if these independent schools are to become environments in which non-white students can truly feel accepted.

“But we also have some of the pieces that make America at its worst and we need to be ensuring that everyone who comes to our campus feels welcome.”

Chandler Fattah is a rising junior at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy who is working as an intern at the Local.