A white classmate reassured me during my sophomore year that my presence at Payton was meaningful because I helped them meet the quota. Nevermind all the hard work I put into testing into Payton and keeping up with the rigorous curriculum, wrote a member of the class of 2013. A Chicago private school is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit from the family of a former student who died by suicide now seeking $100 million in damages for allegedly permitting the severe bullying they say caused their son's death. Indeed, several current Latin students and alums interviewed by Injustice Watch told stories of confronting authority figures about racism and sexism, raising their voices to fight against oppression, and organizing other students of color. Students, alumni, parents and some faculty have signed on in support. Attending these institutions disrupted the discovery of our identities because we had to hide who we were in order to be accepted by our classmates. 298 people like this. Latin School of Chicago, founded in 1888, is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school for students in junior kindergarten through grade twelve. And in the fall, a few months after a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Randy was sitting at a lunch table in Latin's cafeteria when several white boys began joking that they were planning to attend a KKK rally. Dunn, who is Black, wrote that it is important that these stories have been brought to light, and said the school will now engage in a collaborative process to institute change. Through the Lens of Athletics: A Mental Approach to Sports by Latin School of Chicago published on 2022-09-20T18:52:56Z. Dunns letter also acknowledged that the culture, systems, and practices at the 132-year-old institution have promoted racism implicitly and explicitly. The letter didnt elaborate. Tel: (312) 582-6000. www.latinschool.org. I had students say to my face: low-income students should be grateful theyre even allowed at Latin because if it wasnt for our parents making these donations they wouldnt be here, as if those donations and the price of tuition was enough to compensate for the trauma, she said. "There is a renewed call for action for Black leaders," writes Randall . Another private prep school near Latin, Francis W. Parker School in the Lincoln Park community, and St. Ignatius College Prep, a private Jesuit school on the Near West Side, also have Instagram pages documenting students' experiences with racism and anti-Blackness. The head of school described reading those stories as extremely painful, and pledged to identify and address challenges keeping Latin from being an inclusive and anti-racist community. The city also has a very cold, brutal and unrecognised history which is still felt today by our people. It got to the point where someone who I considered a close friend was saying things he knew would harm me, but I still had nothing to say. He then told her, a black girl, that she should have calmly explained why their comments were offensive instead of calling them racists. A chart detailing "Covert White Supremacy"- which a Chicago archdiocese office shared online amid widespread protests against racism in the city and across . Were demanding structural change in institutions that deprive many of us of a healthy high school experience., The spokesperson said that a group of current and former students is crafting a set of demands for Latins administrators that span from increasing the power of marginalized students voices relative to the board of trustees, to hiring more BIPOC administrators and teachers and restructuring our required curriculum across the school to incorporate the stories and histories of our BIPOC and LGBTQ+ students., A post shared by @survivorsoflatin on Jun 30, 2020 at 10:18am PDT, In an email to Latin families and staff several days after Latin Survivors went live, Latin Head of School Randall Dunn, the first Black person to hold that position in Latins history, acknowledged that members of our community have reached out to me and others with reports of racial traumas endured both in the past and recently.. Moreno graduated from Latin in 2017 and says she is still unpacking the trauma from her experience. The teachers never said anything either. Fewer than one-in-four Latin teachers identify as people of color, according to the school's latest annual report. His parents preferred Latin, and his sister, a 2014 Latin grad, praised its academic rigor. She remembers a teacher asking why, if English was her first language, she didnt write essays better. The spokesperson for Latin Survivors, a recent grad who spoke to Injustice Watch on the condition of anonymity, said the group was inspired by Black students who are leading social media campaigns exposing injustice at other top college prep schools across the U.S. And in response to that, my classmates felt that it was appropriate to say aloud, Corona. But whenever someone else would cough, they would do nothing. Latin tendered him a four-year scholarship worth more than $120,000 in tuition. I was 15 at the time and he was married. The head of school described reading those stories as "extremely painful," and pledged to identify and address challenges keeping Latin from being an inclusive and anti-racist community. Initially, I thought this was just a generic stick with it and persevere kind of statement. Moreno also accused some teachers of reinforcing the idea that she wasn't supposed to be there. She was active in Latinx student groups that pushed for more racial inclusion at the school and participated in student focus groups centered on race and equity. There is a 30-year gap in the life expectancies of Black and white Chicagoans depending on their ZIP code. On average, residents of the . His first choice was Whitney Young High School, a public school on the Near West Side where two in three students are people of color. Key findings of the article and the survey's longitudinal data include: In 1972, "fewer than 15% of whites nationwide thought that black and white children should attend separate schools. The bilingual and Spanish dominant also reported more discrimination. The majority of the participants are students of color, unlike Latins student body. Like other current and former students at Latin, she said there was a culture of silence around racial injustice. Asian students and students who identify with more than one race comprise 10% of the student body, respectively. On my first day of ninth grade, in 2017, walking through those doors felt like a dream come true. Those include an anti-racist curriculum with nonelective courses on Black culture and history and reforms to the admissions process, such as an end to legacy admissions. If I recall correctly, they instead put the students on a meaningless probation. That's essential, he said, to make Latin safe for future Black students and people of color. CHICAGO - As an eighth-grader in 2017, South Chicago resident Randy Pierre boasted the grades and test scores to get into some of Chicago's top high schools. The page says it aims to share "voices of students, alumni, parents, and faculty at the Latin School of Chicago that have endured anti-blackness, racism, and xenophobia." Those revelations come on the heels of recent outcry over racist transgressions at other highly touted Chicago schools, including the private University of Chicago Lab Schools in Hyde Park, and Walter Payton High School on the Near North Side. 3. reviews ( 3 %) All Categories. Latin School Chicago. I haven't been separated from Latin long enough to know if it was worth it," she said. FILE - Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot participates in a forum with other Chicago mayoral candidates hosted by the Chicago Women Take Action Alliance Jan. 14, 2023, at the Chicago Temple in Chicago. Moreno, who came from a school that shared one projector, was amazed when she saw smartboards and MacBooks in every class at Latin, she said, and she wanted access to those resources. It is in our bones. He invited the Latin community to continue engaging in discussions about race and to provide feedback in a survey that would help inform "a specific plan of action" to be unveiled in July. Today, a near-record 14% of the country's population is foreign born compared with just 5% in 1965. In the U.S., elite, private schools such as Latin have historically catered to a mostly white and affluent population. Fellow students also advised against speaking out, and told her she should expect racism, xenophobia, and misogyny, which was a hard truth to swallow for a 13-year-old. Latin breeds incredibly motivated students that are ready to change the world. In her sophomore year, she was part of a working group focused on diversity and inclusion, and a white girl in the group tried to get her replaced with another Black girl. Warren Skalski/The Washington Post via Getty Images. CHICAGO (WLS) -- The parents of a 15-year-old student at Latin School of Chicago who died by suicide are now taking legal action against the school. They are kids and so they have a lot of options for what to do with their anger and fear and trauma and angst, but the fact that they choose to channel those negative emotions into generative action, thats a lesson for all of us, Russell said. Latin School of Chicago. At this national student gathering, I was surrounded by people who were going through the same things that I was. A post shared by @ survivorsoflatin on Jun 22, 2020 at 11:54am PDT. According to its website, High Jump helps prepare elementary students from households "of limited economic means" for entrance exams and academic success at prestigious public and private college prep schools. I thought that maybe she just had a bad experience, that I would be different., But Randy saw for himself in the summer of 2017, five days into the school year. ", In an email to Latin families and staff several days after Latin Survivors went live, Latin Head of School Randall Dunn, the first Black person to hold that position in Latin's history, acknowledged that "members of our community have reached out to me and others with reports of racial traumas endured both in the past and recently.". One of the first, from an alum, reads: I have nightmares about Latin. Others shared stories of being bullied, verbally harassed or addressed with racial slurs. In 2020, during the summer after my junior year, Latin was finally forced to grapple with racial justice at a time when the rest of the city and country was also confronting racism after the police killing of George Floyd. Students also acknowledged the administration has made some attempts to improve Latins culture through diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. That was something I never had to experience before.. Eventually it started to get uncomfortable and he grabbed my butt while still hitting on me. Latin School is a member of the Independent School League (ISL). Text Description: A person in my grade frequently refers to black people as monkeys, A post shared by @ survivorsoflatin on Jun 21, 2020 at 1:36pm PDT. One of Latin School of Chicagos school buildings on the Gold Coast. But Randy chose the Latin School of Chicago, an independent school on the Gold Coast serving predominantly white and affluent students. She said her parents enrolled her at Latin because she was a gifted child, and they feared that the neighborhood schools would not be challenging enough. The girl in that story, Alex Moreno, is now a 21-year-old woman attending college. After students confronted him, he claimed it was fine since a Latinx student wasnt offended., Another submitter shared how after a Puerto Rican Muslim speaker addressed students at a school assembly, a white student walked up to a Mexican-American girl and said he didnt know what was worse, that the school had invited an illegal to speak, or that the speaker was a terrorist.. during a unit on Islam. Students of color remain vastly underrepresented today, but many of the schools have ramped up recruiting efforts targeting them while extending more financial aid to economically disadvantaged families. That conference, he said, gave him the courage to share his story with Latin Survivors, and with Injustice Watch. And in the fall, a few months after a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Randy was sitting at a lunch table in Latins cafeteria when several white boys began joking that they were planning to attend a KKK rally. I bought into the dream the school was selling, unprepared for what came with it. I thought it could be me on that screen. I didn't know how to deal with it; I decided to not speak, assuming he had a stressful day at school. That conference, he said, gave him the courage to share his story with Latin Survivors, and with Injustice Watch. Text Description: I was so excited to go to Prom because I got invited as a Sophomore and got to go before most of my peers (because when youre a sophomore you can only go with an invite from an upper class man). The U.S. attorney's report went a step further, saying that the school violated Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for mishandling the response to allegations that a non-black student . 0 references. It was a little more covert, people werent openly saying the N-word, at least around me, she said. Tweets. The Latin School Of Chicago is a co-educational independent day school for students in grades junior kindergarten through twelve. She also remembers teachers allowing students to get away with comments in social studies classes deriding immigrants and other marginalized groups, saying things like "why do we have to learn about terrorists?" She remembers videos and social media posts circulating among classmates that called Black girls ugly or said they all had AIDS. A co-ed independent day school for students in grades JK-12. Former Latin grads Alex Moreno and Michelle Perez on their graduation day in 2017. Text Description: Racism at Latin isn't limited to students. Thirteen percent of students get financial aid from the school, which reported more than $50 million in revenue last year. Earlier Saturday, Marist defeated Montini Catholic High School, 34-0, in its homecoming football game. She said her parents enrolled her at Latin because she was a gifted child, and they feared that the neighborhood schools would not be challenging enough. Later on, I searched up the name, Harambe, and learned that it was the name of a gorilla. Organizers of the @bipocatignatius account, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said they were motivated to create the account to get administrators' attention and to spur change at the school. I took the words with a grain of salt as I finished my freshman year. We are the voices of students, alumni, parents, and faculty at the Latin School of Chicago that have endured anti-blackness, racism, and xenophobia. On the @bipoc.payton Instagram, students recount being called racial slurs by their peers, profiled by school security, confused for other students of color, ignored by faculty and discouraged by counselors from applying to top-ranked colleges. Oct 13, 2022. Online: Complete and submit a complaint form located at cps.edu/osp. In a statement emailed to Injustice Watch, Dunn acknowledged that students and alumni were sharing their traumas on social media. The majority of the participants are students of color, unlike Latin's student body. At the Latin School, the operators of @survivorsoflatin went on hiatus, saying they needed to focus on other parts of their lives. Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News. His first choice was Whitney Young High School, a . Anthony Vazquez / Chicago Sun-Times. But it got worse, to the point where people, white people, were just saying the N-word around me as if I wasnt there.. Bruce Rauner, a millionaire, also attended. After growing up in the predominantly Black neighborhood of South Chicago, Latin was a completely new environment, and I struggled to navigate it. Many children start in preschool and go all the way through high . Our 134th year of teaching and learning begins with sustained commitment to our liberal arts foundation, as well as the promise to continually define excellence in education for the world our . Somebody at my son's school called him a gorilla. In the U.S., elite independent schools such as Latin have historically catered to a mostly white and affluent population. For a long time I felt guilty, as though I had done something to have led him on, but I know now that I didnt do anything wrong and that his behavior was completely inappropriate. The children of former Gov. Randy Pierre, 18, a senior at the Latin School of Chicago. Racism, Ethnicity, and White Identity. I would not recommend Latin to a Black student. "It was a little more covert, people weren't openly saying the N-word, at least around me," she said. It is in our bodies. Warren and Carroll, like many others, were inspired to start their Instagram after seeing the page @survivorsoflatin, which was one of the first accounts of the type in Chicago. Bill Conway, whose billionaire father recently donated more than $10 million to fund his unsuccessful campaign for Cook County State's Attorney, is another Latin graduate. But as a low-income student of color, she struggled a lot with imposter syndrome, she said. As an eighth-grader in 2017, South Chicago resident Randy Pierre boasted the grades and test scores to get into some of Chicagos top high schools. Now Russell has seen students use Lordes teachings to advocate for justice within the school. After a lengthy, painful deliberation (where some people on the body's biases were clearly showing), we decided to give them both an out-of-school suspension. The teacher made jokes about how the British kid was always next to me because he was `colonizing' me. She didnt like how I talked about raceI was very blunt, Marilyn Pierre said. Community Organization. . During this time of the pandemic, I have received racial aggressions concerning the virus while we were still at school. 1888. Robert and Rose Bronstein sued the Latin School of Chicago in connection . In 2010, Black students were about 27% of the student population, according to state figures. The school treated violations like isolated incidents and rarely punished offenders, she said. Fewer than one-in-four Latin teachers identify as people of color, according to the schoolslatest annual report. On Tuesday, Chicago community leaders and elected officials denounced the reports of violence against black Chicagoans by Latinos, saying that it is a "distraction" to the systematic racial . If the grand jury investigating the white-on-black violence during the 1919 race riot in Chicago is to be believed, Irish American gangs played a central role in attempting to extend the bloodshed. At the conference, I joined a discussion of what it meant to be Black at a predominantly white institution. Email us at [emailprotected] or call us at (312) 521-0977. I had to learn that I couldnt bring my culture there with me. I was nonchalant about the racism that took place at Latin, and because of that, my white peers continued with the same actions. Asian students and students who identify with more than one race comprise 10% of the student body, respectively. At the same time, I felt empowered to bring the energy that I felt back to Latin. There is no place for racism, harassment or oppression of any kind in Parkers community, and for that matter, in our global community, the statement read. Industry: Primary & Secondary Schools. The spokesperson said the group is also drawing inspiration from the ongoing uprising against white supremacy and police violence in America. Racism can be individual, when persons fail to recognize certain groups as created in the image of God and equal in dignity, or it can be systemic, where practices or policies treat certain groups of people unjustly. ", Another story says: "My Mexican mother was waiting outside the building to pick me up when another mom asked her if she was my nanny." These profound demographic changes raise . Nancy Reagan is the school's most famous alum. More. Illustration by Alejandra Fernandez/ South Side Weekly. image. 26 Following. "We're demanding structural change in institutions that deprive many of us of a healthy high school experience. "We are acting in solidarity with movements across our country demanding structural change in the government," the spokesperson said. (About 85% of Latin families donated to the school in the 2018-19 academic year, contributing more than $5 million, according to Latin's latest annual report.). But either way, this cant be the end of the fight. She was active in Latinx student groups that pushed for more racial inclusion at the school and participated in student focus groups centered on race and equity. Latin School of Chicago's tracks Global Online Academy: Learning Through Collaboration by Latin School of Chicago published on 2022-11-15T22:44:07Z. A post shared by @ survivorsoflatin on Jun 21, 2020 at 1:24pm PDT. Russell said Payton has traditionally catered to students from families of means, rich in resources, while offering space for a few exceptional kids who are able to beat the system. "We pledge to ongoing introspection to build our individual and institutional racial awareness and literacy, and to continue to identify and overcome obstacles that keep us from realizing our goal of becoming an inclusive, anti-racist community.". The anonymous coalition, composed of students, alums, parents, and former faculty, acts primarily through their Instagram account, @survivorsoflatin. Black and Latinx students each make up 6% of Latins student body. Alex Moreno, a 2017 graduate, said that reporting racism at the school was intimidating because of some of the big names associated with Latin, whose board of trustees is stocked with business leaders and millionaires. This was the year that I started to discover who I am, thanks to the Student Diversity and Leadership Conference. Several members of the wealthy Pritzker family have attended Latin, including Gigi Pritzker, and the children of Illinois billionaire Gov. imported from Wikimedia project. About two-in-three Latin students are white in a city where the same proportion of residents are people of color. What Makes Latin Unique. Students at Walter Payton College Prep, a selective enrollment school on the citys North Side, founded the Instagram account @bipoc.payton as a space for Black, Indigenous and people of color who go to or attended Payton to tell their stories. Semper Fidelitas (Faithfulness always). One common thread was the perception of an indifferent response by school officials. By my junior year, everything started to shift. 338 people follow this. This anonymous form allows students to share their stories of bias and receive a response from a faculty member, letting them know that someone has read the story and some form of action will be taken. The spokesperson said the group is also drawing inspiration from the ongoing uprising against white supremacy and police violence in America. She remembers videos and social media posts circulating among classmates that called Black girls ugly or said they all had AIDS. Injustice Watch asked Latins head of school Dunn several questions about the problems at Latin and how the school planned to respond. Many times, I would cough or sneeze in class because of allergies or a clogged throat. It is in our art. The Latin School seeks to be one of the finest independent schools in the nation. Injustice Watch is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism organization that conducts in-depth research exposing institutional failures that obstruct justice and equality. Similar pages have surfaced in recent weeks focused on other Chicago private schools. Published June 17, 2021 Updated on June 17, 2021 at 11:22 am. Moreno, who came from a school that shared one projector, was amazed when she saw smartboards and MacBooks in every class at Latin, she said, and she wanted access to those resources. Students wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus walk in a single file through a bridge on the campus of the Latin School of Chicago. The students operating @bipoc.payton screen submissions before posting them, identifying the author only by the class year. Series link box. "But it got worse, to the point where people, white people, were just saying the N-word around me as if I wasn't there.". We commit to continuing our efforts to change our educational program, the culture of behavioral accountability and our fundraising and allocation of financial resources.. I felt one step closer to becoming who I wanted to be: someone successful. The letter didn't elaborate. Tweets & replies. Once one of their parents lawyered up, the administration unilaterally overturned the sanction. The food is so good too. Officials did not respond to the request. A post shared by @ survivorsoflatin on Jun 22, 2020 at 9:00am PDT, One story reads: I am of Indian descent. The page says it aims to share voices of students, alumni, parents, and faculty at the Latin School of Chicago that have endured anti-blackness, racism, and xenophobia., Students exit the Latin School of Chicago, one of the schools where students have started an Instagram account to share incidents of racism they said they've encountered. Text Description: I was on Honor Council. ", The spokesperson said that a group of current and former students is crafting a set of demands for Latin's administrators that "span from increasing the power of marginalized students' voices relative to the board of trustees, to hiring more BIPOC administrators and teachers and restructuring our required curriculum across the school to incorporate the stories and histories of our BIPOC and LGBTQ+ students. "I received a wonderful education, but at what price? Within a week of its creation in late June, the Instagram page received more than 200 submissions and attracted the attention of more than 1,000 followers. Middle East. Latin is a top-ranked private school, charging more than $40,000 a year in tuition to parents that include the city's wealthiest. Now that she's graduated, Stallworth looks back on her Latin experience with mixed feelings. While Latin Survivors central focus is anti-Blackness, the submissions also include stories of alleged sexual misconduct by teachers, and sexist, anti-immigrant, anti-Latinx, and anti-Muslim statements by students, parents, and educators. Even in online school, the fact that were in our homes (and) we still arent safe, we still dont feel safe thats just kind of difficult to deal with, said Shawn Hughes, another Payton senior helping to operate the @bipoc.payton Instagram page. The changes will come too late for Keiara Stallworth, who just graduated in June after attending Latin since the fifth grade. But in the world of remote learning and without the peer-to-peer conversations we would usually have, its hard to say yet whether or not these changes are effective. We are the voices of students, alumni, parents, and faculty at the Latin School of Chicago that have endured anti-blackness, racism, and xenophobia. Revenue: $25 to $100 million (USD) Competitors: Unknown. university-preparatory school. Latin tendered him a four-year scholarship worth more than $120,000 in tuition. I felt lonely and isolated. In a statement emailed to Injustice Watch, Dunn acknowledged that students and alumni were sharing their traumas on social media. A bomb threat at Latin School cut classes short and forced parents to pick up their kids. Tuition is $33,425 for the highest grade offered. Some five months after the Watts uprising, King arrived in Chicago in January 1966 and announced "the first significant Northern freedom movement ever attempted by major civil rights forces.". I didnt believe her. The page administrators also omit the names of anyone whose behavior or words is called out by the authors. Rose Bronstein is the mother of Nate Bronstein, a 10th grader at the Latin School of Chicago, who died by suicide on Jan. 13, 2022. When she arrived at Latin, she was one of just a handful of Black people in her grade and often was the only Black person in her classes, she said. Warren and Carroll said they hoped that this would prevent followers from becoming fixated on individual bad actors, and instead see these stories as a communitywide issue. Randys sister, Marilyn Pierre, arrived at Latin in 2010 from High Jump, a free academic enrichment program based in Chicago that operates on the campuses of Parker, the University of Chicago Lab Schools, and Latin, where it is headquartered. By Scott Holland. In July, Resh sent a statement to the school community, acknowledging the stories shared on Instagram and affirming her commitment to amplifying the voices of Black, Indigenous people and other people of color. "I kind of just took it because I felt like if I showed that they were affecting me they would just keep doing it," he said. The West Virginian. A similar Instagram account, Latin Survivors, has shared stories of racism at Latin School of Chicago, another prominent private school. One girl went to the freshman dean to ask him to intervene. His first choice was Whitney Young High School, a public school on the Near West Side where two in three students are people of color. That isn't to say she didn't fight back at Latin. Dunn promised to "do better," and "listen."