Twenty-seven RCDS students in Grades 8 – 12 gathered with over 100 students, teachers, and administrators from nine local independent schools to participate in the annual Saturday Summit on Social Justice, a student-led event coordinated by RCDS and the Masters School. This year marked a milestone fifth anniversary for the inter-school project, which examines the important roles that diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice play both inside and outside of school communities.

With the theme “Revolutionary Joy,” the half-day summit featured 12 engaging and thought-provoking student-facilitated workshops. RCDS was especially proud to have 15 student workshop facilitators who demonstrated leadership, compassion, and dedication to the cause of building inclusive communities. 

The keynote was delivered by Rashan Brown, poet and founder of the spoken-word poetry platform "Poetry Me, Please." Mr. Brown performed his poetry, including “I am BLACK,” and shared his story of growing up in the Bronx and becoming a poet. He touched on his experiences as a Black man and his time at SUNY Albany, where he discovered his love of spoken word poetry. After the keynote, students connected with Mr. Brown and shared how they were inspired by his words of encouragement.

Congratulations to our student participants and workshop facilitators, and many thanks to our faculty coordinators, Director of Diversity Ali Morgan and DEI Teaching Fellow Joshua Noel Rivera ’15.

“The energy at the Saturday Summit was truly amazing. All of the student facilitators did a fantastic job leading their workshops. I was especially proud of the five student-leaders who created, developed, and facilitated a workshop for the first time.” —Joshua Noel Rivera ’15, DEI Teaching Fellow