Rebekah Strauss and fellow students held sit-in that garnered Ivy League school recognition
Racially disparaging remarks and one student’s drive to rid hate has amounted to policy change in her school, the formation of a coalition and an award at an Ivy League university. Rebekah Strauss, now a Clearview Regional High School junior, on April 11 stood before fellow New Jersey teens, Princeton professors and administrators and others in the Carl A. Fields Center and said “We are valid. Our struggles are real.”
The first-place award of The Princeton Prize in Race Relations did not serve as incentive in February 2017 when Strauss and fellow Clearview Regional students took a stand when bigoted social media posts littered the cell phones of students during Black History Month last year.
Strauss said “enough is enough” was her attitude then and now about racism and hatred, tainted lines of thinking that exist in every community.
Strauss said to learn some fellow students feel contempt for minority students was heartbreaking. She also said ignorance plays a capital role in racism everywhere.
“Some people don’t like what they don’t understand,” she said, mentioning it is unfair minority students must be on guard against irrational, bigoted behavior.
In response to an archaic worldview, Strauss and a diverse group of fellow students planned a sit-in during school hours.
Planning began on a Friday in February 2017 and was scheduled for the following Monday. However, staff and administration heard of the plans and decided to hold an assembly on Monday morning.
“It was for everyone to voice their concerns,” she said. Stating the assembly was helpful, the students planning the sit-in still wanted to organize and live out their “civil disobedience.”
According to Strauss, the administration’s only rule was not to disturb class; no effort was made to stop the students.
A school-day-long silent sit-in led to another auditorium gathering, but this time it was focused on inclusion and creativity — students were able to speak their minds and even read spoken word pieces and share other forms of art all focused on issues of race and equality.
Clearview Regional responded with the creation of the Student Coalition for Racial Equality.
Students and staff now brainstorm and take steps to implement a more diverse social and academic atmosphere in the high school. The coalition includes three branches: curriculum, policy and student life.
An immediate success of this formation is the banning of racially charged displays such as the Confederate flag on clothing or any other accessory.
Strauss has also assisted with developing more culturally diverse lesson plans.
“While there are minor changes, this is not going to happen overnight,” she said. “I’ve come to terms that I won’t see the changes,” but she hopes her efforts are taken up once she graduates in the spring of 2019.
Her efforts, of course, did not go unnoticed. She was encouraged to apply for The Princeton Prize in Race Relations by multiple teachers, and Jennifer Satterfield, Clearview English teacher, wrote Strauss a letter of recommendation. For the last 15 years, Princeton University has held ceremonies celebrating and further encouraging high school students in their efforts to foster and spread equality.
Ceremonies are held in 27 locations across the country each year, and Strauss is the grand prize winner of Central and Southern New Jersey.
“You will be met with resistance,” said Kevin Gutierrez, a keynote speaker at the event, referring to the struggle many minorities face when making a professional life for themselves.
Referring to the students and why they were chosen for the award, he said each student actualized something — an avenue of change — that was not there and brought it into being.
In Strauss’ case, she feels she brought awareness to an issue and now that awareness is growing into action and change on multiple levels.
“Awareness is what starts everything. It sheds light on these issues. You have to start with awareness,” she said.
Strauss said she has spent sleepless nights worried about ridicule from students and punishment by the administration for her outspoken attitude, but in the end she reminds herself the need for change outweighs everything else.
Simply put, she said, “Something needs to change.”
A passionate writer, Strauss says one of her main goals is to work her way into the world of film and combine her passions of social justice, writing and film to better represent minorities in media.
Strauss was recently accepted into the New York University Tisch dramatic summer writing program.
Another Clearview student recognized for promoting positive race relations was Luis Eduardo Becerra Solis. He was unable to attend the event. He was named by administrators and students as a co-leader for the Student Coalition for racial Equality at Clearview Regional.
