Diversity
MLK Day Celebration
On Monday, Jan. 20, the St. Stephen’s school community celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday by participating in an array of educational activities focused on issues of racial inequality and social injustice.
The day’s events were designed by St. Stephen’s diversity, equity and inclusion team to examine the subtle and overt ways discrimination affects individuals and society as a whole. Yvonne Adams, director of equity and inclusion, guided students and faculty through the daylong programming.
Students in 6th, 9th and 12th grades participated in the MLK Day parade at the Capitol in downtown Austin. Following the march, students enjoyed a box lunch on the grounds of Huston-Tillotson University before embarking on a guided tour of Wheatville, one of Austin’s freedmen’s communities established by former slaves after the Civil War. Their excursion ended with a tour of the historic antebellum Neill-Cochran House Museum and a theatrical performance of “If These Walls Could Talk,” which highlighted the different experiences and treatments people would have had in the home depending upon their race, class, gender and socio-economic status.
Seventh and 8th grade Spartans were treated to a number of on-campus programs developed and facilitated by Devin Walker, professor of curriculum and instruction at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). Students engaged in interactive exercises and discussions about equality, equity, power, privilege, oppression, systemic racism and allyship. Their day ended with a special MLK Day-themed performance of “I Have a Dream” by the school’s Chrysalis Dance Co.
Tenth and 11th graders spent the first part of the day viewing the recently released film “Just Mercy,” a biopic about civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson’s work to free wrongly convicted death row prisoners. After returning to campus for lunch, students gathered in Chapel to discuss the movie with the Austin-based filmmakers Noah Isenberg, chair of the radio, television and film department at UT, and Ya’Ke Smith, associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at UT.
Special thanks go to Adams and her team for planning such powerful educational opportunities for our Spartans!
Address: 6500 St. Stephen's Dr., Austin, TX 78746
Phone: (512) 327-1213
Phone: (512) 327-1213