“I just need somebody to help me understand where students are in terms of racial equity and racism…The expectation is that he’s at the table with these different groups so then he can inform me on what we need to do to create a safer environment,” said Principal Ray Aponte about South’s new equity and racial diversity coordinator, Ethan Dean.

The position has existed for two years, and was filled by Terral Lewis last year. Dean was hired in September. He has a long history as both a student and employee in the district. Before working at South, Dean worked at Minneapolis Urban League Academy Elementary School in North Minneapolis, Green Central, and Jefferson School.

“I have always played these roles of interacting with diverse groups. . . I always like to get in situations where I have a lot to learn. Be it a different culture, different language, different economics, I really thrive when I’m in a situation that I’m not from,” said Dean.

South is the only school in the district that has the position of equity and racial diversity coordinator. The diverse staff and student population requires special attention, especially in regard to equity.

“There’s no other school that has a solid East African population, solid African American population, solid European population, Hispanic population, Native American population. Mr. Dean is here to make sure all voices are at the table, when decisions are being made,” said Aponte.

As the equity and racial diversity program coordinator, Dean is responsible for making sure that South is doing what it can to ensure every student and staff member equal opportunities.

“My responsibilities so far are just to get to know people in the building. Nobody really takes seriously somebody that doesn’t have any experience or familiarity. So I’ve been doing my best to have conversations with students and staff,” said Dean.

Aponte explains, “The second piece of his target is that he’s going to be asked to be present at meetings with staff around how we, ourselves, define racial equity and diversity. And the other piece is that he’s making sure that students are heard and brought directly to me,”

As well as focusing on the positive side of South’s diversity, Dean is responsible for responding to any inequity that exists or happens in South.

Dean advises several student groups including s.t.a.r.t., Link Crew, and the Progressive Student Leadership group. His presence in student leadership groups gives students a voice in the school that wasn’t available before. Dean is there to hear students’ concerns, and bring them to Aponte to be addressed and discussed.

“[I] am trying my best to be aware of what’s happening in all the leadership groups,” said Dean, “The only thing I’ve really been putting forth so far is to really focus on integration and collaboration. Diversity is great, but it’s what you do with the diversity. South has the diversity, and I really want to explore the potential of that diversity through projects, events, partnerships that focus on integrating the student body, and doing collaboration with the different groups in the student body. It seems like there’s a tremendous amount of potential, and finding ways to take advantage of that is kind of my challenge.”

Part of the potential lies in student groups developed before Dean was hired. Students together allied for racial trust (s.t.a.r.t.) was formed by eight students in 2008 to begin dialogue about equity in high schools, and to reflect on the segregation in South High school.

s.t.a.r.t.’s mission statement, according to their blog, is, “To provide a safe and academically rigorous forum for students to foster racial equity, cultural competence and deepened connections in their schools.”

This year, Dean replaced one of the original advisors of the group, Kate Towle. Now Dean and Charles Johnson-Nixon, South High’s art teacher, advise the group.

Senior Loren Towle, a member of s.t.a.r.t. said, “One thing new that he’s brought to the group is a way for us to put together a structure, so that every meeting is meaningful, and we get things done that need to get done. He’s very good at looking into the future, and scheduling ahead. The group itself is hard to maintain because of the subject. But he’s doing a great job adapting to the environment that we have.”

s.t.a.r.t. has been very present in the conversation about race in South High. Preceding the incident on February 14th, 2013, s.t.a.r.t. provided and created a safe space for people to come and talk about the racial tensions they’ve experienced.

Recently, s.t.a.r.t. members Mekhi Taylor and Loren Towle attended and presented at the Twin Cities Social Justice Education Fair. Their workshop, “More than a Score,” was about the cultural bias in standardized testing and how the tests are administered.

“We talked about how testing has affected us as students, how testing has affected our mental health, the stigmas around how people of color should be doing on tests and how white students do on tests,” said Loren Towle. “It was a really good opportunity to talk about what we thought was important.”

In the past, s.t.a.r.t. has held peace circles, community dinners, and student forums to spark conversation about issues at South. They will continue this under Dean’s leadership.

“Students will come to s.t.a.r.t. and talk about some of the issues they’ve had. Last year we had a student come in and say that people just flat out would say,‘You’re a Somali, go back to Africa, we don’t need you here.’ When you have something like that happen, it really gives you meaning to your work,” said Towle.

Senior Fatima Yusuf agreed that  s.t.a.r.t.’s work is necessary.  “It just takes one person to make us [East African students] seem like we are all the same. People use one person to represent all of us. I think s.t.a.r.t. educates people so we have less ignorant people walking around.”

Towle said that having Dean on board “…encourages the students to do the work, but it makes it a little bit easier for them, because they don’t have to do everything. Basically [Dean] provides a template, or a canvas, and we create the art.”

As well as participating in s.t.a.r.t., Dean recently invited leaders from all of South’s student groups to participate in a student engagement committee meeting. The meeting was to unify the voices of South High’s student leaders and to call for them to collaborate with other student groups.

As representatives of the student body, the leaders are asked not only to reach out to the student population but to listen to students’ voices. Aponte will be present at the student engagement meetings, as well as Jean Webb-Bradford, one of South’s assistant principals, so they can strengthen the relationship between students and the administration and know they are being heard.

An important part of the student engagement committee is that student leaders, not adults, will be facilitating peace circles throughout the year to engage with students about problems, concerns, or positive things happening in South.

“If we’re having a conversation about what’s going on in our school, let’s make sure that that conversation has this aspect in it [equity]. So if we’re talking about literacy, if we’re talking about science, extracurriculars, are we having those conversations with an eye towards equity and diversity? Once we are aware of those ideas or including those ideas, how is [equity] affecting those changes, or making the policies?” said Dean.

As far as his plans for South, Dean wants to continue to get to know the staff and students before launching anything new. “I think we’ve got a good thing going this year. I know that suspensions are down. I like that there’s a focus on managing relationships instead of managing behavior from the administration and the staff. I think that goes a long way to creating the right attitude of respect.

“I’m trying to really take advantage of the diversity of South. [I want to explore] what it means to identify oneself as a successful South student. And not just explore it but illustrate it so that other people can see it too. I think something focusing around what does success look like and really breaking that open, because I see a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds in this building,” concluded Dean.