Each year as we welcome new students to school, we work to provide support for all students entering the St. Mark’s community. In addition to the support provided by advisors, dorm parents, The Center and teachers, St. Mark’s seeks to cultivate a community that is safe and generative for each community member. In fact, we believe that understanding the various cultures and communities represented in our student body is an essential part of the education each student receives here at St. Mark’s.

Notably, there are students at St. Mark’s who fit into a dominant culture, and it is up to us as educators to help our students who fall into this category understand the nuance of the privilege and the responsibility that comes with it. Indeed, this idea is central to the St. Mark’s Global Citizenship initiative. The goal of the Global Citizenship Initiative is to assist our students in recognizing and appreciating the beautifully distinctive features that exist in the variety of cultures of the world, to appreciate the human universals that make all people more similar than different, and to inspire our students to become global citizens.

As we navigate this investigation and framing of who we are as global citizens and as members of the St. Mark’s community, there will inevitably be moments of misunderstanding and discomfort. In fact, we encourage the discomfort while maintaining safe space for everyone. It has been proven that providing support spaces for those outside the dominant culture can further enrich the entire community by allowing those groups to speak about unique issues specific to their community. St. Mark’s has long recognized the inherent challenge of being in the minority for various identities such as race, religious beliefs, country of origin,socio-economics, gender, orientation and ability; but, more than recognizing the differences exist, St. Mark’s endeavours to embrace the joyful, beautiful and enduring aspects of our universal humanity to create a more meaningful community. Our affinity groups (known as Pathways) are essential tools in strengthening smaller pieces of our St. Mark community to make a stronger whole.

To this end, orientation provides education for all students around issues of identity and culture by utilizing Pathways Student Leaders (as well as adults from the Office of Community and Equity Affairs, Global Citizenship, Dean of Students and Counseling Services) to introduce the concept of affinity spaces and the opportunities available to engage in Global and C&E work at St. Mark’s. At some points, domestic students of color, international students, and students whose families are new to the boarding experience will have special time dedicated to creating the safe affinity space which is integral to the C&E and Global Initiatives at St. Mark’s. Students who do not have these particular affinities will continue to unpack intersections of our identity (because we all have them) and consider how their voice is just as relevant, necessary and responsible the work of diversity and inclusion.

Please direct any questions you may have about our respective programs to Laura Appell-Warren, director of The Global Citizenship Initiative or John Daves – director of Community and Equity Affairs. 

Pathways Prefects

Pathways Prefects are the student voice for C&E. They are friendly faces to talk to about issues and questions of community and equity at St. Mark's. They host the weekly C&E Minute during school meetings and assist the C&E Director on group-related logistics.

The Pathways program promotes awareness around cultural difference and provides affinity opportunities for students whose social or identity needs are not reflected in the dominant culture at St. Mark’s. This program is the umbrella under which all student affinity groups are housed.

Affinity Groups

The affinity groups create meeting opportunity for students who are outside of the dominant culture. They provide support for group members and those group members in turn, collectively and individually become active participants in building awareness throughout the community as a whole.

Research shows that students’ success is only as strong as their degree of social and identity comfort. To that end, SM provides affinity groups for those students whose cultures are underrepresented here. To be clear there is always a concern that affinity groups segregate communities as opposed to bringing them together.

And yet, affinity groups still exist in the most prominent and lucrative organizations, including The United States Congress, Fortune 500 companies, and the Ivy Leagues. How can these groups be so exclusive and yet so highly popular and even endorsed at senior levels of leadership? The answer is that acknowledging difference and communicating across cultural lines actually brings communities closer together rather than further apart. Having the time and freedom to meet in an affinity group empowers members to articulate unique concerns that can be addressed by the entire community.

Viewing affinity groups as exclusive, often stems from the lack of acknowledgment that there is indeed a dominant culture and that others are expected to fit into it. The acknowledgment of a dominant culture and one’s relationship to it is the only way to begin addressing issues of power and privilege. Here at SM, we provide affinity opportunity for all groups who present with this need. ALL affinity groups provide some meeting times open to ANY St. Mark’s community member who wants to participate. Below is the current list of active affinity groups.

Affinity Groups

Orientation

The Pathways orientation program introduces all new students to the Global Citizenship arm of the SM strategic plan. Students are given the opportunity to think about the many different cultural identifiers and focus in on the one(s) that are most salient for them. They are encouraged to take a deeper dive into the understanding of self while getting to know St. Mark’s and each other. Included in this orientation - which is a partnership between Global Studies, Counseling Services, Residential Life and Community and Equity - are pointed conversations in affinity groupings about building community, academic success strategies, self-advocacy/resources available, being away from home, and entering a culture different from one's own for the first time. Each of these conversations is tailored for the appropriate cultural group who need unique support and ensure that all students have the opportunity to connect with those who identify in the same way they do. While finding connections with those who have similar cultural ties, students also reach across cultural lines to learn about the different cultures represented in the new student body. In this way orientation allows students to look first at self, and then outside of self, all while getting to know St. Mark’s culture and traditions.

C&E Day

Conferences

Pathways Pizza

Monthly Pathways Pizza evenings can be sponsored by any affinity group who would like to have an open discussion with the entire SM community. The format generally consists of two groups agreeing to host an open conversation of common interest (i.e., the women’s group and the group for students of color unpacking intersectionality) which is then open and available to the entire community. This allows groups to bring an issue to the forefront concerning their specific affinity.

Community and Equity Impact Report

St. Mark’s School seeks to cultivate a safe and generative environment for each community member. Understanding the various cultures represented in our student body is an essential part of a St. Mark’s education, and we intend to provide students with a superior education in a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff that represents a variety of racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds.

Read the Community and Equity Impact Report to see how Community and Equity Affairs, and the programs it offers through the school year, helps St. Mark’s carryout this mission.

Fall 2020