Throughout this past summer, alumni-managed Instagram account @RivSpeaksOut worked to amplify the marginalized voices of the Riverdale community by posting hundreds of student, alumni, and faculty anecdotes. From June 17th to August 2nd, the page posted more than 300 personal stories. @RivSpeaksOut has offered a platform for community members to share moments in which they felt that their race, gender, sexuality, or socioeconomic status affected their interactions with peers. The creators of @ RivSpeaksOut hoped that these stories would encourage reflection on both the Riverdale community as a whole and what it means to be a good community member. The Instagram account grew quickly and organically, and other accounts centered around schools like Dalton or Horace Mann launched similar initiatives. To date, @RivSpeaksOut has amassed nearly 1,300 followers.
To give an example, one post featured the story of a Latinx alum who lived in the Washington Heights neighborhood, which is just 15 minutes away from school. Instead of picking her up last in the morning and dropping her off first in the afternoon, the bus picked her up first before going all the way downtown and dropped her off last. The alum endured a two-hour commute each way as a five-year-old. Another story detailed how a female student felt a teacher was being insensitive by commenting on the higher voices of girls during classroom participation. She was also accidentally outed by a teacher as queer during class.
Riverdale’s core values are mind, character, and community. The recent focus on racism prompted by the upsurging of the Black Lives Matter movement shows that a tolerant community is more important than ever. A key step in building an inclusive community is to ensure that all voices are heard. The anecdotes shared this summer are painful but necessary reminders that we can do better. @ RivSpeaksOut has offered an anonymous forum for people to express their frustrations as well as a safe place for readers to ponder the impact of day-to-day behaviors and careless language that could contribute to marginalization. These intimate stories enable readers to relate to and empathize with the grievances that get smoldered when people are forced to remain silent.
Based on how quickly it grew over the summer, @RivSpeaksOut definitely resonated with the community. Junior JJ Davidoff said, “The problems that were being brought up on @RivSpeaksOut were problems that I was somewhat aware existed in the Riverdale community. But, actually reading personal experiences was very powerful and definitely brought home some of the issues I knew were happening.” Sophomore Colby Stenzler said, “It’s important that people don’t think of the @RivSpeaksOut account as intimidating or confrontational. Instead, we should all strive to understand why these moments are happening and what we can do to prevent them in the future.” @RivSpeaksOut provides concrete evidence of the issues described in many of Riverdale’s grade meetings and assemblies. Every community member has a responsibility to read these stories and understand that interactions and words truly matter.
The faculty and administration are working to actively combat problems raised on the account. Head of School Mr. Dominic Randolph said that “@RivSpeaksOut gives us a moment to consider the culture of the school and to take action in order to make the community better for people so that things like this don’t happen.” He stated that “you have to face up to these issues and understand that we must tackle this.” Both the Community Engagement Team and Directors of DEIB are working to release an institutional equity plan in the next few weeks. This institutional equity plan will reorganize current reporting policies for members of the Riverdale community and make sure that there is a clear process for those who have stories similar to the ones shared on @RivSpeaksOut. Ms. Phyllis Dugan, the Director of the DEIB, is focused on “implementing a system that can house these reports and target the areas where we can do more professional development around or carry out more training and workshops for students.” She also said that “it’s very important for us to follow up with students that share their stories and make sure that students know they are being heard.” The anonymity of the Instagram page has strengthened the platform for contributors and readers alike. There were no threats of reprisal or shame for those who shared their stories. Furthermore, the stories did not identify names or specific individuals, which took the focus away from gossip or innuendo and enabled readers to reflect on the deeper issues involved. @Rivspeaksout did not point fingers at wrong-doers but rather tried to educate the community on issues that should be addressed.
There are no quick or easy solutions to overcoming systemic discrimination, but all of us can work on kindness, awareness, and personal growth. Such a unified effort will enable the Riverdale community to address these frustrations and become stronger.
