Netty Andrews ‘25
Many St. Mark’s students have heard about the safe zones on campus. When I was first hearing about it my first thought was, why? Why would we need safe Zones if the whole campus is supposed to feel safe for students and faculty? First, let me provide some background.
Safe zones were established here at St. Mark’s a long time ago. They were made because some faculty wanted to provide students who didn’t feel comfortable sharing aspects of their identity out loud and in public, a place for them to do just that. These safe zones were open for all students, but I’m assuming they mainly focused on LGBTQ peoples, POC, and more people, since back then they were less welcomed in a private school setting and in society in general.
*I would like to give a very big thank you to Mr. Vachris, who made time for me to ask these questions while he was preparing for a meeting.*
Mr. Vachris, Dean of Students, said that these safe spaces were a good start for promoting more acceptance for these groups of people at St. mark’s, and as the school evolved as a community it also indulged in more conversations about how to create more acceptance forming the space(s) we have today.
As we can see there was a huge purpose for safe zones when they were first created, but now we have to question if that purpose still exists anymore? And if it does, what hasn’t St. Mark’s done to make people feel comfortable? As said before, St. Mark’s has grown into a place where all types of people are welcomed, so it’s very hard to feel like one aspect of your identity is not shared with another person. This is also another reason we have Pathways and clubs, to find people that share our identity or interest and bond over it.
I believe that here at St. Mark’s, students should not have to feel like they can not open up about themselves. Everyone should be able to express themselves at any place on this campus, but at the same time, there might be a story that I haven’t heard yet. A story where a student here does not feel safe, and they use a safe zone to talk about it. I can not guarantee that everyone feels safe on this campus through my words alone but through all of our actions as a community we can. Everyone has had moments in their life where they have felt unsafe or uncomfortable, long or short. Thinking back on that feeling, would you want anyone on this campus to feel the same way you did?