Now an annual autumn event, the School’s Community Life Symposium is an early opportunity for students and faculty to consider, discuss, and address different ways in which Middlesex can be a more welcoming, inclusive place for all its members. This year, on September 23, veteran educator and consultant Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee talked about microaggressions, giving many examples of these…
The power of community and the importance of being present and supportive were resonant themes at Middlesex’s 120th graduation exercises on May 28, 2023. In sharing their own experiences – whether at school or beyond – speakers touched on these ideas, highlighting the need to build and nurture relationships, to persevere through challenges, and to be there for others in…
A molecular biologist with a Ph.D. in genetics and genomics, Zakiya Whatley has been a researcher, professor, and podcaster during her scientific career – or her “episodic journey,” as she called it. “It’s more like Netflix’s ‘Are you still watching?’” she laughed, making the point that there really is no set STEM career path that must be steadfastly followed. “It’s…
As a youngster in Indiana, Chris Kang belonged to one of only a few of families of color in his town – and like most children, he wanted nothing more than to fit in, “not to be picked on for my slanty eyes and for kids not to make fun of the way my parents spoke.” Once he crossed the…
Having been a Middlesex student only a dozen years ago, Rebecca Hatcher ’12 understood her audience well as she reflected on her own school experience with candor, warmth, and humor during morning assembly on April 15. Speaking after the annual Day of Silence – during which many students and adults remained silent to protest the harmful effects of harassment and…
A year after a new lecture was established to honor Middlesex’s first Black faculty member, the Kenneth E. Whitlock, Jr. Black History Month Speaker Series brought its second guest, educator and author Ric Sheffield, to campus on February 28, 2023. A professor emeritus of sociology and legal studies at Kenyon College, Professor Sheffield reviewed the current traditions that have become…
The second academic semester kicked off on January 26 with Wellness Week, Middlesex’s annual program of events, workshops, and activities designed to introduce new and proactive ways for students to support their physical and mental health. From all-school assemblies to small group gatherings, the daily offerings varied widely, with some providing opportunities for quiet reflection, while others were more active…
Gathered on January 16 for the School’s annual commemoration of the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Middlesex community considered some of the inequities that persist today, decades after his death, particularly within the criminal justice system. Illustrating these disparities through telling his personal account of wrongful conviction was guest speaker Kevin Richardson, whose…
Sharing concern about the increasing incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times columnist Bret Stephens ’91 addressed the Middlesex community on November 29, initially reviewing several of the blatant, often violent acts that have occurred in recent years. Among them were the murder of 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in October 2018…
To hear a noted, contemporary writer read aloud and discuss his own work is a rare opportunity – one that the Middlesex community was treated to on October 4, when English Professor Tomás Morín addressed the School. As a featured speaker during the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Professor Morín shared four of his poems and the inspiration behind them,…