I would be lying if I said I felt guilty for taking up one of eight class marshal spots this year. Yes, I have been confronting my (many) privileges for the past four years. Yes, I am constantly in awe, inspired and intrigued by my fellow classmates. Yes, I am an upper middle-class white Jewish girl from Long Island, who cringed when asked to write a list of the things I do on campus, for fear they would think, "that's it?" Yes, I am happy to represent my class and humbled by the individuals who will "follow" me to commencement. Leading my class is something I am very proud to do.
I see people I have befriended, respected and admired on the list of class marshals, historians and orator, and I am more than pleased. The Senior Executive Committee had an arduous task, and we entrusted them with delivering us a slate of fantastic individuals for Class Day and graduation. The SEC certainly delivered.
But if there hadn't been two of us from the LGBTQA community, I probably would have made a lot more noise a lot sooner. I think about those who see none of their friends on this slate, see nobody they know and nobody they have looked up to for the past four years. The fact that this is a result of our picks for the SEC, that there is a lack of diversity in that group and that the subsequent picks they made were similarly un-diverse, makes me fully aware of my privilege. I have friends on the SEC. Do you? Don't get me wrong; I am hugely honored. Not by the SEC, but by the people who have supported my coming out, my rants, my activism, my leadership positions. I don't know what the campus would be for me without all of these people.
This campus prides itself on difference, on otherness, on individuality. With that in mind, I have to ask: How could the Senior Executive Committee choose a full slate that was about three-quarters white? And are we all just going to sit back and say, "may the best (wo)man win!" and allow for it to be implicitly stated that white people are the majority of stand-out leaders in our class, that these are the people who can represent the entire class? Maybe I have high expectations. I can't possibly expect eight people to "represent" our class. But then again, are we saying that the people who were chosen have served the class in greater ways than the people who were not? Are we appreciating them more?
We will have speakers; is it still necessary to have Class Marshals? If a group of eight can't be representative, why not 20, 50 or even zero? If all of our definitions for leadership are different, what criteria did the SEC use to evaluate nominees? Are there certain traits, demographics, groups that ought to be paid more attention than others? Were people choosing their friends and voting against their enemies, or were they truly thinking about people's contributions to the class and the school?
I am not more qualified just because I was chosen and other people weren't. Please, SEC, justify the alterations you made to make the slate half-male and half-female. Our two flag-bearers are male. It is one thing if we are going to claim that all decisions were based on merit; but if this is true, why was gender equality, in addition to merit, included in the decision-making for class marshals and historians? If people were partially chosen with gender in mind, why wasn't race as carefully considered? What would the women in the SEC (perhaps ten years ago) have said in deliberations if part of the group came to the conclusion that a slate that was three-quarters male was the best choice? How is this different from persons of color recognizing a similar percentage in terms of racial majority?
It is not easy to judge leadership. People can't be quantified, and this is not a process of checking off boxes and adding up points. I commend the SEC on doing the best they could, and making a very difficult decision. But I suppose the question that remains is, with those who were excluded in mind, are we fulfilling the vision of what a class marshal is supposed to be?
I don't have a plan for a better, more transparent process that would maintain our trust in the SEC. I simply want to express a sentiment of curiosity, with no one in particular to blame or judge, at what the qualifications are for this title I've been granted. Everyone in this class deserves recognition; thank you for the work you've done, and continue to do.
