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It all started with a conversation. Natasha Kollaros ’93, Dean for Residential Life, asked her dorm staff to come to their orientation with some topic ideas for residential meetings for the year 2009-10. Spanish teacher and dorm parent, Ellen Ruebush, thought over the conversations she had had with her students. “I have talked a lot with my students over the years about diversity around campus, and that we’re lucky to have such diversity but I wondered what are we doing with it, other than just having it? I wanted to take advantage of it, the different points of view, different cultures. I came up with the topic of respect and understanding for diversity.” But then, the conversation widened. “Natasha pointed out to us that we have all kinds of diversity at St. Margaret’s, not just the racial diversity I had in mind. Among others, we have socio-economic, religious, cultural, and geographical diversity too.” The dorm staff continued to discuss the meaning of the kinds of diversity St. Margaret’s is blessed to have. As the conversation progresses, the words respect, understanding and diversity were repeated. It soon became clear that those words in and of themselves are powerful. They are, in a nutshell, the code of conduct by which we expect our student and faculty to live their lives.
The adults shared with student leaders their three words for the year and asked for feedback and additions. Prefect Lucy Eckman ’11 said, “We all decided that community needed to be in there, because we’re always talking about community and how important it is, what it does for everybody and the positive effect
it has.”
The community at St. Margaret’s is one of the things that attracts prospective families to St. Margaret’s. It’s what draws alumnae back to campus for a visit. It’s what
gathers every person together at times like seated lunches, chapel or at informal gatherings like sports games or theatrical performances. As Ms. Ruebush puts it, “We always say that this is a community, and it really is. We want to take advantage of that.” With this new addition, the list became: Respect, Understanding, Diversity and Community.
But, the leaders still felt something was missing. Lucy said, “We realized we needed Faith in there because even though we don’t all practice the same religion, we are a church school.” As head boarding prefect Linh Tran describes the conversation, “We are a religious school and that should be an aspect that’s represented. Something simple like gathering in the chapel is a part of our life here.”
With five words selected Respect, Understanding, Diversity, Community and Faith, the leaders took it to the dorms, decorating each floor and posting the words all around. They brought it into their discussions with new students. The dorm staff took it to their planning of this year’s residential meetings. Ms. Ruebush expands the meaning of Faith saying, “faith is not just faith in God but faith in each other. So, we’ll be doing trust building exercises.” In November, eighth and ninth graders will have class meetings on the topic of respect. When asked about what the five words mean to her, Lucy mentions the sense of purpose these words create for her and her fellow leaders. “We all have the same attitude, we’re all really positive and [the words] have given us a focus and reference point. Even just identifying the five points was really great because it helped us appreciate what we have [at St. Margaret’s].
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Photo of Dorm Decorations in Latane
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Respect, Understanding, Diversity, Community and Faith. Respect for each other and yourself. Understanding for both similarities and differences. Diversity of skin color, background and points of view. Recognition of the sense of Community that permeates our river campus, and is the life blood of the school. And finally, Faith. Faith in a higher being, faith in each other, faith in the school, and faith in self. It all started with a conversation, but as a testament to the strength of collaboration the result is sure to be something bigger than all of us. Just as together as a community, St. Margaret’s is bigger than the sum of its parts.
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