MCCSC students and staff are ready to make change when it comes to racial discrimination in schools. The newly appointed equity ambassadors are already beginning to make these changes and make MCCSC schools a better learning environment. 

Kate Ratliff, an assistant principal at Bloomington High School South, explained how students were chosen. “An Equity Ambassador is a student who is chosen by a corporation who comes up with an anti racism policy” said Ratliff. MCCSC which runs the Student Equity Ambassador Leadership program works with the Midwest and Plains Equity and Assistance center to help promote inclusion and eliminate biases. 

These students will have three meetings this year. The first meeting was August 30, where the ambassadors were introduced to what they would be doing and what changes they would be making. The second meeting was on September 13, where the ambassadors split into groups, thought about situations from teacher standpoints and what would happen if the rules were violated. The third and final meeting will be on September 27. The discussion topics of this meeting are not completely known yet.

There are 10 BHSS students chosen to be equity ambassadors: Jael Davis, Adrianna Waterford, Liberty Espinoza, Audrey Adams, Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer, Elise Erwin, Maddie Kawanishi, Sydney Crossley, Brooke Liao, Lillian Hall and Grace Choi.  Each one of these students hope to reduce racism in MCCSC Schools through their meetings and regulations.

One of these 10 students, Maddie Kawanishi, a junior at BHSS, explained why she applied to become an equity ambassador. “Me and my friends have experienced a lot of racism at South and in middle school and I don’t think anyone should feel like that,” said Kawanishi.  “We are in the process of creating standards for South teachers and students, disciplinary acts if the guidelines are violated, and a safe space to report racism,” said Kawanishi.

Adrianna Waterford decided to become an Equity Ambassador because of what she learned in the debate club. “Ever since I joined the debate team, I learned more about discrimination and about how MCCSC didn’t have an anti racism policy,” said Waterford. Now she and nine other students from South are working with students from other schools and multiple organizations in Indiana to create anti racism policies.