newark academy newark academy
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outreach N E WA R K A C A D E M Y
S P R I N G
2 0 1 4
GRIT & RESILIENCE Why They Matter
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Fall drama, A Shortage of Quotes, encourages thoughtful dialogue through dramatic interpretation by Marci Kahwaty, Communications Associate
NEWARK ACADEMY
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Diversity. Inclusion. Concepts that have guided Newark Academy culture, policy and programming for some time. But during the past year, a shift occurred. Newark Academy internalized those concepts in unprecedented ways. It’s difficult to say just how it happened, but a number of events contributed to a major shift in the way we view ourselves, identify ourselves and talk to one another about topics like race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and religion.
NA shared some unique collective experiences as a school during the 2012-2013 academic year: A delegation of students, faculty and staff attended the National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference (PoCC), returning with strong diversity programming for the second half of the year; the Feinberg Multicultural Assembly series brought Dr. Mykee Fowlin to NA to perform his one-man-show, You Don’t Know Me … Until You Know Me, which explores the profound impact of image and stereotype on young people. During a Morning Meeting last spring, members of the Gay Straight Alliance stood on the stage in Rose Auditorium and spoke publicly about their sexual orientation, some for the first time. The community was talking and it was time to capture the lightning in a bottle. The 2013 fall drama, A Shortage of Quotes, continued that dialogue, bringing tough-to-talk-about subjects into
the open (into the Lautenberg Black Box, to be exact). The production was conceived and written by students, along with faculty members Scott M. Jacoby and Amanda Addison ’06. Through a series of scenes and monologues, actors addressed issues including race, religion, socioeconomic status, academic pressure and body image. EVERYONE’S TALKING When the faculty and students came back from PoCC and presented their experiences and recommendations at a faculty meeting, Amanda Addison admitted that the discussion struck a chord. She and her friends, fellow NA alums, had often discussed their experiences as students of color in the NA community. Newark Academy had provided a rich academic experience, but students of color described a sense of being on the outskirts of the social scene.
OUTREACH spring 2014
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They had little idea of what was to come but had faith in their goal and in the artistic process. “Trust the process” would become the cast’s mantra...
Last summer, Scott and Amanda contacted students to begin discussing the project. They had little idea of what was to come but had faith in their goal and in the artistic process. “Trust the process” would become the cast’s mantra during the making of A Shortage of Quotes. From the initial information session about the project and the subsequent auditions, a group of 25 students emerged, all of whom would write and perform some piece of A Shortage of Quotes.
Odette Rodrigues ’05 echoed Amanda’s sentiments, describing a tough transition from Newark to Newark Academy during her freshman year: “NA was growing and becoming more diverse at that time. But the conversation – the dialogue about it – wasn’t keeping pace.” “I prospered academically. But socially it was different,” Odette explained. “I found a home when I joined Umojaa (the Newark Academy club dedicated to learning about African-American culture and promoting unity at NA). That’s where most of my friends were from, not from students among the majority of the NA population.”
TRUST THE PROCESS The creation process lasted for two intense months. The first month saw a lot of
Fast forward to 2013: The NA community was tackling the issues that Odette described. “Something was definitely happening here and we had to capture it,” said Scott Jacoby, referring to the discussions taking place. “We had to do something to take advantage of this momentum and create an artistic response to it.” Scott had participated in a conference about teaching collaborative theater, and he was ready to try out a student-generated fall drama piece that would give NA students a forum to talk about issues in their own words.
discussion, arising organically among the students about issues they had faced. “We shared experiences and struggles dealing with diversity and inclusion,” said Amanda. “Those conversations were complex, dealing with issues like feeling marginalized for being black, guilty for being white, tongue-tied for speaking with an accent or judged.” When writing finally began, the group struggled with how to put their ideas into a cohesive production. “As we got together we realized that everyone had a message that they wanted to deliver but not everyone
A SHORTAGE OF NAMES Where did the name come from? The cast was having a discussion and one of the cast members was trying to think of a quote to illustrate a point. When she couldn’t think of one, she said she was experiencing “a shortage of quotes.” And the name stuck.
NEWARK ACADEMY
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felt like they had a way to deliver it,” said sophomore Truman Ruberti, one of the writers/actors. Should this be a traditional play? Should there be an ongoing plot? Should personal prose be amalgamated into character themes? That didn’t feel right either. (Trust the process.) “Your stories are the most compelling stories we have,” Scott told the cast. “Using them is the most authentic way to do this.” Someone brought up the idea of a school tour to anchor all of the performances in the play. With each destination on the tour, personal stories about race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sexuality and academic pressure unfolded.
The venue is dark as junior Amani Garvin takes the stage for the first scene of A Shortage of Quotes. Amani is alone onstage with a single spotlight as she delivers a powerful soliloquy about the “Five Points of Identity” that people look for to draw quick conclusions about someone they meet: name, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and religion.
But the name Newark Academy isn’t uttered anywhere in the play and that’s by design. “We wanted it to feel more universal than that,” said Scott. The actors are clearly talking about life at an independent school but it could be any independent school. And one of the (few) rules that governed the writing process prohibited references to specific individuals in any of the scenes. One of the themes that kept coming up in the playwriting process was the idea of guilt for having the privileges that many students enjoy. “We tried to impart that no one should
OUTREACH spring 2014
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Affinity Groups at NA 36
Amanda Addison’s role as a faculty advisor for A Shortage of Quotes has become a launching point for a project she is spearheading on behalf of the Alumni Board of Governors (BOG): the creation of affinity group programming. “As an alum who is now a faculty member and very involved in the current school community, I had been thinking about how to attract some fellow alums back to campus,” Amanda explained. “I invited friends to see the play and I got the sense they were coming to terms with feeling disconnected from the school community at times when they were here. Seeing a contingent of alumni of color in the audience, and seeing the issues being addressed on stage was a very positive experience for them.” Her friends’ response to the performance combined with her attendance at the People of Color Conference, where affinity group programming was a major theme, motivated Amanda to suggest that the BOG consider adding programs for affinity groups to the schedule of annual alumni events. Examples of affinity group programs might include an NA attorneys group, a reunion of alums who went on the Southwest trip or a gathering for alumni of color. “It’s happening all over at the independent school level,” she said. “I’m excited about the possibility of bringing something like this to NA.” The BOG’s Young Alumni Committee, led by Amanda and Sean Allen ’03, will research, plan and implement the program. The committee is in the earliest stages of planning, but Amanda expects that they will model their efforts on programming available at top collegiate institutions Amanda said the goal for the BOG is to create an infrastructure for the affinity groups, starting with a concrete vision statement. She stressed that affinity groups are not divisive. Rather, she pointed out, they are designed to engage individuals with NA through their diverse interests, backgrounds and experiences. “This is not about having subsets of people or excluding others,” she said. “We created A Shortage of Quotes because we care about NA. The affinity groups are being established in the same spirit.” “We are always looking for new and creative ways to both engage and serve NA alums,” said Matt Gertler, director of alumni relations. “Under the direction of Amanda and Sean, and with the input and experience of their peers, I’m confident that our alumni community will be well-served by affinity group programming.” NEWARK ACADEMY
feel guilt for having privilege because that keeps you from using it to create positive experiences for others,” said Amanda. “The takeaway is, ‘You’ve got the privilege. Stop feeling guilty and be constructive.’” As the cast moved closer to a completed script, Amanda suggested including a questionand-answer session at the end of each performance. “With so much to say, it couldn’t just end,” she said. The comments in those sessions ranged from technical questions (How did you write the play?) to compliments (Thank you for being brave enough to do this). In one of the question-and-answer sessions, an audience member asked the cast about how
participating in the production impacted them. Amani Garvin, whose performance opened the show said, “I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had an issue with feeling like they weren’t being understood and feeling uncomfortable because they weren’t understood. As we go on I feel like this play has helped us deal with that.” Liz Merrigan ’16 said, “Performing in this project has helped me learn how to communicate things that are difficult.”
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ON THE RIGHT TRACK By all accounts, A Shortage of Quotes helped to further the conversation about diversity and inclusion within the Newark Academy community that had begun the year before. In particular, the production helped move that dialogue forward, with new voices and new ways of approaching the topics that need to be addressed, even though they make us feel vulnerable. “The discussions happening at NA may not all be a result of A Shortage of Quotes,” said Truman Ruberti. “But we definitely helped it along.”
inspired programming to keep us talking about important issues in the NA community and beyond. “From an alum’s perspective, I’m so happy to see that a play like this can be produced at NA and that the conversation is continuing,” said Odette Rodrigues. “It’s important for alumni to know what’s happening on campus. For alumni who may have felt like they weren’t represented when they were students, a production like A Shortage of Quotes might help them feel more connected to Newark Academy.” Toward the end of the play sophomore Valery Tarco, in her school tour guide role,
The NA community continues to find new ways to communicate difficult subjects and inspire authentic communication. Class discussions, global speakers and Morning Meeting presentations offer forums for students to share their perspectives. The Oyster Club, which was formed by NA students in response to Dr. Mykee Fowlin’s presentation, promotes positive self-image and positive peer-to-peer interaction. Clubs like the Gay Straight Alliance, Girls Helping Girls and Umojaa have developed
admitted that no school is without social issues. But in the final analysis, she said, “I’d rather be at a place where we can talk about our issues and work through them, than at a place where you either swim or drown.” The lines of communication must remain open, evolve, inspire programming and curricula, and encourage understanding of the similarities and differences among us. It’s a conversation that needs to continue and that, ideally, need not ever end. NA
37
A Shortage of Quotes helped to further the conversation about diversity and inclusion within the Newark Academy community.
OUTREACH spring 2014
outreach N E WA R K A C A D E M Y
S P R I N G
2 0 1 4
GRIT & RESILIENCE Why They Matter
142967 Outreach_Layout 1 5/8/14 8:58 AM Page 32
Fall drama, A Shortage of Quotes, encourages thoughtful dialogue through dramatic interpretation by Marci Kahwaty, Communications Associate
NEWARK ACADEMY
142967 Outreach_Layout 1 5/8/14 8:58 AM Page 33
33
Diversity. Inclusion. Concepts that have guided Newark Academy culture, policy and programming for some time. But during the past year, a shift occurred. Newark Academy internalized those concepts in unprecedented ways. It’s difficult to say just how it happened, but a number of events contributed to a major shift in the way we view ourselves, identify ourselves and talk to one another about topics like race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and religion.
NA shared some unique collective experiences as a school during the 2012-2013 academic year: A delegation of students, faculty and staff attended the National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference (PoCC), returning with strong diversity programming for the second half of the year; the Feinberg Multicultural Assembly series brought Dr. Mykee Fowlin to NA to perform his one-man-show, You Don’t Know Me … Until You Know Me, which explores the profound impact of image and stereotype on young people. During a Morning Meeting last spring, members of the Gay Straight Alliance stood on the stage in Rose Auditorium and spoke publicly about their sexual orientation, some for the first time. The community was talking and it was time to capture the lightning in a bottle. The 2013 fall drama, A Shortage of Quotes, continued that dialogue, bringing tough-to-talk-about subjects into
the open (into the Lautenberg Black Box, to be exact). The production was conceived and written by students, along with faculty members Scott M. Jacoby and Amanda Addison ’06. Through a series of scenes and monologues, actors addressed issues including race, religion, socioeconomic status, academic pressure and body image. EVERYONE’S TALKING When the faculty and students came back from PoCC and presented their experiences and recommendations at a faculty meeting, Amanda Addison admitted that the discussion struck a chord. She and her friends, fellow NA alums, had often discussed their experiences as students of color in the NA community. Newark Academy had provided a rich academic experience, but students of color described a sense of being on the outskirts of the social scene.
OUTREACH spring 2014
142967 Outreach_Layout 1 5/8/14 8:58 AM Page 34
34
They had little idea of what was to come but had faith in their goal and in the artistic process. “Trust the process” would become the cast’s mantra...
Last summer, Scott and Amanda contacted students to begin discussing the project. They had little idea of what was to come but had faith in their goal and in the artistic process. “Trust the process” would become the cast’s mantra during the making of A Shortage of Quotes. From the initial information session about the project and the subsequent auditions, a group of 25 students emerged, all of whom would write and perform some piece of A Shortage of Quotes.
Odette Rodrigues ’05 echoed Amanda’s sentiments, describing a tough transition from Newark to Newark Academy during her freshman year: “NA was growing and becoming more diverse at that time. But the conversation – the dialogue about it – wasn’t keeping pace.” “I prospered academically. But socially it was different,” Odette explained. “I found a home when I joined Umojaa (the Newark Academy club dedicated to learning about African-American culture and promoting unity at NA). That’s where most of my friends were from, not from students among the majority of the NA population.”
TRUST THE PROCESS The creation process lasted for two intense months. The first month saw a lot of
Fast forward to 2013: The NA community was tackling the issues that Odette described. “Something was definitely happening here and we had to capture it,” said Scott Jacoby, referring to the discussions taking place. “We had to do something to take advantage of this momentum and create an artistic response to it.” Scott had participated in a conference about teaching collaborative theater, and he was ready to try out a student-generated fall drama piece that would give NA students a forum to talk about issues in their own words.
discussion, arising organically among the students about issues they had faced. “We shared experiences and struggles dealing with diversity and inclusion,” said Amanda. “Those conversations were complex, dealing with issues like feeling marginalized for being black, guilty for being white, tongue-tied for speaking with an accent or judged.” When writing finally began, the group struggled with how to put their ideas into a cohesive production. “As we got together we realized that everyone had a message that they wanted to deliver but not everyone
A SHORTAGE OF NAMES Where did the name come from? The cast was having a discussion and one of the cast members was trying to think of a quote to illustrate a point. When she couldn’t think of one, she said she was experiencing “a shortage of quotes.” And the name stuck.
NEWARK ACADEMY
142967 Outreach_Layout 1 5/8/14 8:58 AM Page 35
felt like they had a way to deliver it,” said sophomore Truman Ruberti, one of the writers/actors. Should this be a traditional play? Should there be an ongoing plot? Should personal prose be amalgamated into character themes? That didn’t feel right either. (Trust the process.) “Your stories are the most compelling stories we have,” Scott told the cast. “Using them is the most authentic way to do this.” Someone brought up the idea of a school tour to anchor all of the performances in the play. With each destination on the tour, personal stories about race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sexuality and academic pressure unfolded.
The venue is dark as junior Amani Garvin takes the stage for the first scene of A Shortage of Quotes. Amani is alone onstage with a single spotlight as she delivers a powerful soliloquy about the “Five Points of Identity” that people look for to draw quick conclusions about someone they meet: name, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and religion.
But the name Newark Academy isn’t uttered anywhere in the play and that’s by design. “We wanted it to feel more universal than that,” said Scott. The actors are clearly talking about life at an independent school but it could be any independent school. And one of the (few) rules that governed the writing process prohibited references to specific individuals in any of the scenes. One of the themes that kept coming up in the playwriting process was the idea of guilt for having the privileges that many students enjoy. “We tried to impart that no one should
OUTREACH spring 2014
142967 Outreach_Layout 1 5/8/14 8:59 AM Page 36
Affinity Groups at NA 36
Amanda Addison’s role as a faculty advisor for A Shortage of Quotes has become a launching point for a project she is spearheading on behalf of the Alumni Board of Governors (BOG): the creation of affinity group programming. “As an alum who is now a faculty member and very involved in the current school community, I had been thinking about how to attract some fellow alums back to campus,” Amanda explained. “I invited friends to see the play and I got the sense they were coming to terms with feeling disconnected from the school community at times when they were here. Seeing a contingent of alumni of color in the audience, and seeing the issues being addressed on stage was a very positive experience for them.” Her friends’ response to the performance combined with her attendance at the People of Color Conference, where affinity group programming was a major theme, motivated Amanda to suggest that the BOG consider adding programs for affinity groups to the schedule of annual alumni events. Examples of affinity group programs might include an NA attorneys group, a reunion of alums who went on the Southwest trip or a gathering for alumni of color. “It’s happening all over at the independent school level,” she said. “I’m excited about the possibility of bringing something like this to NA.” The BOG’s Young Alumni Committee, led by Amanda and Sean Allen ’03, will research, plan and implement the program. The committee is in the earliest stages of planning, but Amanda expects that they will model their efforts on programming available at top collegiate institutions Amanda said the goal for the BOG is to create an infrastructure for the affinity groups, starting with a concrete vision statement. She stressed that affinity groups are not divisive. Rather, she pointed out, they are designed to engage individuals with NA through their diverse interests, backgrounds and experiences. “This is not about having subsets of people or excluding others,” she said. “We created A Shortage of Quotes because we care about NA. The affinity groups are being established in the same spirit.” “We are always looking for new and creative ways to both engage and serve NA alums,” said Matt Gertler, director of alumni relations. “Under the direction of Amanda and Sean, and with the input and experience of their peers, I’m confident that our alumni community will be well-served by affinity group programming.” NEWARK ACADEMY
feel guilt for having privilege because that keeps you from using it to create positive experiences for others,” said Amanda. “The takeaway is, ‘You’ve got the privilege. Stop feeling guilty and be constructive.’” As the cast moved closer to a completed script, Amanda suggested including a questionand-answer session at the end of each performance. “With so much to say, it couldn’t just end,” she said. The comments in those sessions ranged from technical questions (How did you write the play?) to compliments (Thank you for being brave enough to do this). In one of the question-and-answer sessions, an audience member asked the cast about how
participating in the production impacted them. Amani Garvin, whose performance opened the show said, “I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had an issue with feeling like they weren’t being understood and feeling uncomfortable because they weren’t understood. As we go on I feel like this play has helped us deal with that.” Liz Merrigan ’16 said, “Performing in this project has helped me learn how to communicate things that are difficult.”
142967 Outreach_Layout 1 5/8/14 8:59 AM Page 37
ON THE RIGHT TRACK By all accounts, A Shortage of Quotes helped to further the conversation about diversity and inclusion within the Newark Academy community that had begun the year before. In particular, the production helped move that dialogue forward, with new voices and new ways of approaching the topics that need to be addressed, even though they make us feel vulnerable. “The discussions happening at NA may not all be a result of A Shortage of Quotes,” said Truman Ruberti. “But we definitely helped it along.”
inspired programming to keep us talking about important issues in the NA community and beyond. “From an alum’s perspective, I’m so happy to see that a play like this can be produced at NA and that the conversation is continuing,” said Odette Rodrigues. “It’s important for alumni to know what’s happening on campus. For alumni who may have felt like they weren’t represented when they were students, a production like A Shortage of Quotes might help them feel more connected to Newark Academy.” Toward the end of the play sophomore Valery Tarco, in her school tour guide role,
The NA community continues to find new ways to communicate difficult subjects and inspire authentic communication. Class discussions, global speakers and Morning Meeting presentations offer forums for students to share their perspectives. The Oyster Club, which was formed by NA students in response to Dr. Mykee Fowlin’s presentation, promotes positive self-image and positive peer-to-peer interaction. Clubs like the Gay Straight Alliance, Girls Helping Girls and Umojaa have developed
admitted that no school is without social issues. But in the final analysis, she said, “I’d rather be at a place where we can talk about our issues and work through them, than at a place where you either swim or drown.” The lines of communication must remain open, evolve, inspire programming and curricula, and encourage understanding of the similarities and differences among us. It’s a conversation that needs to continue and that, ideally, need not ever end. NA
37
A Shortage of Quotes helped to further the conversation about diversity and inclusion within the Newark Academy community.
OUTREACH spring 2014
