Forum Returns After Long Hiatus
For many students, the Forum held on February 24, 2023—directly after a regularly scheduled Town Meeting—was their first introduction to an age-old Athenian tradition.
Uncensored, later amended to Forum, is an Athenian practice dating back to 1996. Once a week, students gathered in the main hall to debate a wide range of hot-button topics. Without a clear structure, students found the freedom to practice their public speaking, engage with peers on relevant issues, and witness the value of their voice on campus.
The tradition was started by Dick Bradford, Head of the Upper School from 1994 to 2018, who wanted to provide a space for student reflection.
“I took after the idea of a Quaker meeting. The general gist of it is that you sit there and if you feel moved to speak, then you get up and you speak. So, there’s time for speaking, but a lot of time for reflection as well.” said Bradford.
His vision had to be adapted over the years as it was implemented at Athenian.
“If you wanted to discuss something outside the realm of Athenian, whether an international affair or something that happened in the news, it was an opportunity for you to get up and share your opinion. And then people would react.” Bradford said. “It was admittedly hit or miss, depending on what people had on their minds. As it evolved, I tried to give it more form.”
In 2019, Uncensored evolved into Forum, and took on a more structured format. Student leaders posed a predetermined question and led a schoolwide discussion, open to people who had researched the topic when it was introduced by email the night before.
“So it became Forum. But what we wanted to do is to organize it by topics, and people had a hard time coming up with topics. And so again, it sort of fell apart,” said Gabe Del Real, Athenian Upper School Academic Dean.
In this iteration, Forum faced substantial opposition from students and faculty, primarily due to its shift online during the pandemic.
“It was a double-edged sword. People could speak on big issues, elections, and things happening in the real world in an unfiltered way. But [Forum] could also start arguments, especially through Zoom, which was kind of a nightmare,” Kasey Kazliner ‘23 said.
By the time Meadow Davis joined Athenian as the Head of the Upper School in 2021, administrators were phasing out Forum. Davis explained that upon arriving at Athenian, she received negative feedback surrounding Forum from many community members.
“What I heard from conversations with students and faculty was that some of the Forums that took place during COVID left students feeling unsafe, attacked, and offended,” Davis said.
In the fall of 2021, without any official communication, Athenian stopped holding Forum. This iconic tradition was quickly forgotten by the majority of the student body, in part because most students had never experienced an in-person Forum themselves.
Jia Hwang ’23, discussed the value in a practice like Forum.
“Forum was a good place for students to talk through their opinions, find different perspectives, and expand on their own. If Athenian really values student voice like they claim, then having a space to put that in practice would align with that promise.”
Given the school’s year-and-a-half-long hiatus from Forum, it came as a surprise to many community members when a seemingly impromptu Forum meeting took place on February 24th.
“I was surprised when Forum appeared on the projector right after we finished Town Meeting, since we haven’t done a Forum since the pandemic. It was just dropped in our laps, and it felt weird because there was no context given to explain the history or function of Forum,” said Hwang.
The reintroduction of Forum—according to Del Real—is part of a greater effort to bring back Athenian traditions lost in the wake of COVID.
“Certain things that were sort of a matter of course over the years have gone away after the pandemic. We’re trying to resurrect some older traditions like Forum and Town Meeting. But we’ve got new people, and new people have new ideas. They don’t know how Uncensored worked, so we’re trying to reestablish some things," said Del Real.
Del Real mapped out what Forum might look like for future Athenians.
“The hope is that next year, now that Chris [Crisolo] will have a year under his belt, we’ll be able to map out the Morning Meetings with more regular opportunities for Forum. But admittedly, maybe we’ll have one per semester, because we just don’t have that many Morning Meetings,” said Del Real.
This is one way to bring back a decade-long tradition, but are there other avenues Athenian should explore that may be more conducive to the school’s current environment?
Other faculty members shared their opinions on what an evolved version of Forum might look like.
In the eyes of April Smock, the Head of Athenian’s History Department, increasing student voice at Athenian means accepting the extremes of conversation topics.
“If you genuinely want student voice, there is going to be a little bit of talking about goofy things. If it’s a forum for students to talk about what is of interest to them, there is going to be a large range of topics, some of which don’t seem serious or relevant to everyone,” Smock said.
Davis has a different take. She said that she hopes to create a more structured and intimate environment for these conversations.
“My fantasy would be that we develop something more like the Courageous Conversations model, where we train student facilitators and we have conversations in small groups that are student-led,” Davis said. “I say that because of my experience with those groups. It’s not just the people who are willing to stand up in front of 360 people, but everyone is brought into the conversation.”
In determining the best approach to a new era of Forum, it may prove useful to keep in mind the intentions of Forum’s founder.
As Bradford said, “I’m a big believer in student voice. The thought behind [Forum] was student voice, reflection, and thoughtful discussion, which I think are the underpinnings of an Athenian education.”
