Applause rang across the gym during Convocation as student body president Mpilo Norris ’18 walked up to the microphone to welcome students to the 2017-2018 Academic Year. Norris’s speech focused on the importance of a positive social climate at Choate and his belief that everyone on campus needs to be involved and aware of the issues we face as a school. Norris said, “I was inspired by Choate Talks, and I was inspired by the conversation that has been happening on campus over the past couple of years about the issues regarding social climate.”
This year, Norris hopes to help foster a positive social climate — addressing issues ranging from hookup culture to cliques — as these seem to be some of the biggest issues currently being discussed on Choate’s campus. Speaking at Convocation, one of the few times a year when the entire student body and faculty are required to assemble, Norris wanted to explain that “everyone, not just designated student leaders, can be involved in pushing against any negative elements of the environment.” Norris said, “I wanted my speech to empower everyone to be a leader, from the freshman who’s been here for two hours to the senior who’s completing their fourth year.”
The climax of Norris’s speech came when he asked the entire to community to stand up, raise their right hand, and recite an oath. Norris said, “The pledge was a way that the students and faculty were legitimately promising themselves to promote a positive social climate and internalize what was being said.” He believed that the pledge would hold everyone accountable for living up to the values that were stated in the speech and the pledge. Over the many speeches that Mpilo has heard, he said, “I have never seen a speech in which a pledge was used to allow students to engage with the words that were being said. It distinguishes it from previous speeches or just talks that we have in general. The pledge was an action call, to go out and promote healthy cultures on campus and to remove any negative aspects that may exist.”
In addition to Norris’s aspirations for the school as a whole, he also has important goals for the student council. Norris said, “I want the student council to be seen as a relevant and valuable asset for the community.” To accomplish this, Norris has four themes that he wants to incorporate into the student council’s activity this year.
According to Norris, the first theme is to “engage more in the community by working more closely with student groups on campus and making decisions based on the opinion of these student groups.” His second theme is to “increase communication with members of the Choate community.” The third goal that Norris has is for the “student council to form a better relationship with the faculty.” Norris’s final goal for student council is to “engage more with the outside community, whether that be the town of Wallingford, or peer schools.” Norris, always focused on making the student council and student body better, said, “I hope to have more interschool student council conferences to share ideas on how to become better, as well as working with the Wallingford city council.”
