Change is the only constant in life. —Heraclitus
The second annual Harvard Community Conference (HC2 2019) held in upper Town Hall Saturday, March 16, once again showed the amazing diversity of our small town, which was exactly the intention of the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. forum. Hearing the eight speakers talk about personal experience with change and how that inspired a local or even global change was affecting not just intellectually but also emotionally. The speakers’ openness and commitment to activism for a more compassionate world helped others to embrace their ideas through a deeply felt, personal connection.
This year the conference was organized by Bromfield senior Kira Houston as his senior project, and he thanked his supervisor, Ellen Leicher, Arm in Arm supervisor. In addition to the sponsorship of Arm in Arm, the Harvard Cultural Council gave funding to the event, and Sorrento’s catered lunch. Later Houston thanked his parents and fellow students for their help.
Houston said he loved his experience last year speaking at the conference about his identity as a transgender male, and he wanted to ensure the continuity of the event. He said he chose the theme “Change” as a broad concept for speakers to interpret as they wanted. Houston credited J Woolcock, the creator of the forum, with having passed on the resources and procedures to help make the day go smoothly. Houston did a professional job as emcee, introducing speakers and warmly thanking each of them, keeping things running on time, and making audience members feel welcome as sharers in the event.
J Woolcock, a freshman at UMass Amherst majoring in linguistics, spoke on “Language Change and Why You Should Care About It.” Saying that language has shifted from being prescriptive (governed by rules of grammar, written mostly in the 18th century) to descriptive (defined by how it is actually being used), Woolcock cited how this applies to gender identity. If an individual wants to be referred to as “they” because traditional gender pronouns are not applicable, it should not be dismissed as being “grammatically incorrect.” Rather, “they” should be seen as descriptive, functioning to reflect one of the ways people are existing. “Uprooting what we think we know about language, we can uproot what we think about people,” said Woolcock.
The life-changing Crock-Pot
A social studies teacher at Bromfield, Kristin McManus used her thesis for a master’s degree in history to talk about change. Describing the 1970s as a time of inflation and high taxes that drove many women into work outside the home, she posited that the Crock-Pot was life-changing for the would-be Supermoms of the era. In 1973 there were 20 different slow-cookers on the market. This “tool” made an unexpected and profound change in the way work was organized. Advertised as time-saving and economical, the slow-cooker also assuaged the guilt of the Supermom by assuring her she could serve her family a home-cooked meal just the way grandma used to do. McManus herself, with a full-time job and two children, confessed she uses “The Working Woman’s Dream” once a week.
In tag-team format, with openness and humor, Judi Burgess and Rebecca Rehm shared the stories of their love and their work as advocates for inclusion in both corporations and educational institutions. As a biracial, same-sex couple with three children, Burgess and Rehm model diversity in their private lives.
The two women met through a rugby college tournament in 2000 and said they felt fortunate to be in the “progressive bubble of Massachusetts” where same-sex marriage became legal in 2003. They were married immediately after that, “in case the decision was reversed!”
The women said they chose Harvard deliberately because it is such a supportive community. Both work in advocacy, Burgess at Boston University, where she is in labor relations and co-chairs a LGBTQIA task force, and Rehm as a compliance manager and vice chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Council at Olympus Corporation.
Promoting inclusion and diversity
As advocates, the women had some ideas about what we can do to promote inclusion and diversity. “Stand in your truth,” was Burgess’s advice to young people. She encouraged the idea of older people learning from younger ones and respecting language.
Rehm’s suggestions were to stop trying so hard to be blind to differences; spend time with people who are different from you; and give voice to your values, but “Answer an offensive statement with empathy [not anger],” said Rehm.
Linda Dwight was the first speaker after lunch. She said her personal experience has fueled her passion as an educator to bring more focus on inclusion to Harvard schools. She decried the forced separation of children from their parents at the U.S. southern border, knowing those young children experience the same trauma she witnessed in both her children in the process of international adoption. She described her sons’ heart-wrenching sobbing, inability to sleep through the night, physical illness, and trouble managing behavior. Recent school surveys show that a significant number of students do not feel welcome at school and suffer anxiety about not “belonging.” Dwight is committed to professional development to help teachers meet the needs of diverse students and to a review of teaching materials to eliminate any bias. Though she feels helpless to effect change at the border, she can make a difference in Harvard by creating a safe environment at home and at school for her kids and all kids in the community.
Future positive
Piali De has taken—and is taking—steps to ensure a future that reflects her values. She described herself as “an imagining person,” and so she envisions herself in a future in which a positive change has been made, and then she walks backward to see how she can work to effect that change. One of her values is “Everyone gets an education.” She, who came to the U.S. at age 16, got a free education at City University of New York and at Brown University through her own intelligence and hard work. She spent two terms on the Harvard School Committee, and in 1991 she founded a school in India, where 150 students are educated at no charge to their families. A second value is “Women are free to choose.” When her father said she couldn’t be a physicist, she proceeded to walk her way to a doctorate in physics. A third value is “Communities stick by their elders.” To get to this future, she started a company, Senscio Systems, where the goal is to support seniors in their homes through artificial intelligence that will detect needs and a group of caretakers who will provide for those needs. “The fun is in the journey,” said De, “whether you get to the goal you imagined or not.”
“Getting better’s always on you—it has to be.” This line sums up Gwyneth Smedley’s understanding about personal change. A Bromfield junior, Smedley described how her life has been in constant change for the past six years. Her family moved here from Canada, a change that caused her “emotional whiplash.” Then her family changed houses within Harvard twice before settling into a third house, which they built. In 2017 Smedley went to a summer writers’ camp, a decision she called scary but that turned out to be a “life-changing” experience. She made a family there and developed confidence in her writing. Smedley reflected that it’s easier to respond to change in a negative way, but she has made an active decision to be better because of change.
Objects as change agents
Michael Woolcock chose to talk about change in a more global way and selected six household objects and a piece of paper as symbols of systemic changes that have affected the course of society. He pointed out how we take these things for granted, but we should be actively grateful because not all cultures have benefitted from these changes.
Two of these objects are found in the bathroom: the toilet and the shower. The former represents a sanitation system, which he called perhaps the “single biggest enhancement of human welfare”; the latter brought clean water into the home and with it, improved personal hygiene. In the kitchen, the oven symbolizes the taming of fire, and the definition of a household becomes “the people who share a common pot.” The refrigerator represents another system that brought ease and comfort. The fence symbolizes security of property, and a whole network of communication lies behind the mailbox. And the piece of paper? One’s birth certificate, giving identity.
The conference definitely fulfilled its mission to “spark discussions on diversity” and to show that “Harvard has more diversity than many perceive it to have.” For me, the courage and achievements of the student organizers and the adult participants were a gift.
The program was taped and will air on cable TV.
