Claire Suchy
Copy Editor
On Feb. 24, the Student Voice club welcomed the rest of the student body to listen to their presentation regarding a multitude of topics, but all concerning a central theme: race. The Student Voice club, created in the past year, allows students who felt they were without a voice in the past, to have a vehicle in which they are able to express themselves and their beliefs. The club is run by history and human geography teacher Mr. Aman.
The presentation took place during Spartan Hour, and over 70 students traveled to the activity center classroom to hear these students speak. Among the students, there were also a few teachers amidst the crowd.
Mijhaney Forest, Ezra McGuire, John Fort, among others were the students that presented. Discussing topics from microaggressions to mentors to showing a clip.
“The presentation that Student Voice club put on highlighted a need that was previously unfulfilled in Orono. As a white student in a predominantly Caucasian school, I’m so thankful for Student Voice for taking time to be educational,” senior Molly Martini said, “the presentation was really important and educational and I hope it started more of a much-needed discussion.”
Freshman Kamara Flemming, one of the presenters, discussed the importance of courage. She retold an anecdotal story, recounting the time an individual helped her grandmother when a group of white people attacked her. The story demonstrated not only the importance of courage but kindness as well.
“Talking to my grandma about her experiences and learning about my great-grandma [affected me],” Flemming said, “at a point, I did cry, and I did worry if people were going to get the message of what we were trying to explain.”
Furthermore, the presentation included more topics. Evelyn Torgerson and Faith Leddy discussed current events. McGuire outlined the importance of mentors, especially as an outlet for education and motivation.
Sophomore Fort had a particularly poignant portion of the presentation in which he discussed microaggression, or a brief act of hostility, often unintentional, towards a marginalized group. Fort acknowledged that this is the most typical kind of racism at Orono, stating that it happens very often.
“The microaggression segment of the presentation was educating,” senior Ava Larson said, “it’s especially important because I believe this is a problem at Orono.”
Two members of the student voice club, McGuire and Evlyn Torgerson, are traveling to a civil rights convention in April. Subsequently, the Student Voice club suggested that there would be an additional meeting on top of this one, most likely in May.