At the end of her second term at Choate, Camille Grant ’21 has kick-started two new student groups: Origins, a campus publication about race and ethnicity, and Mixed Heritage Association, a club centered around those who identify as having a mixed heritage. While focused on racial and ethnic diversity, both organizations are open to all Choate students. In fact, it is highly encouraged for people from all kinds of backgrounds to participate in one or both of these clubs to stimulate enticing conversations.
To Grant, a new freshman this year, it seemed that while Choate “had a lot of clubs for people of other ethnicities, like Asian club or HLF,” she didn’t quite feel like there was a club for people with mixed heritages. From a mixed background herself (having one Black and one Chinese parent) Grant sought to create a “safe space on campus for people who identify as having mixed heritage,” where students can discuss ways to overcome adversity and methods for further empowerment.
Origins will accept “almost anything: photography, personal narratives, poetry.” Grant said, “If you want to write about current events or a topic that is near and dear to you, we care about it.” Currently, Origins centers on race, but Grant hopes that the journal, which will be published once a term, will vary its themes from issue to issue. How Origins evolves depends on the interest of the student body, specifically how many submissions are received.
Mixed Heritage Association, Grant’s second large club-based endeavor this year, will meet once every two weeks; meetings will be an opportunity for club members to discuss a specific topic, possibly watch videos or read articles about the topic, and study contemporary heroes with mixed heritages. Through Mixed Heritage Association, Grant hopes to “give people who identify as mixed heritage a place to connect with others and learn about themselves in a positive environment, because not everyone has the same ethnic background.”
Kathryn Phillips ’20 said of Grant’s work, “It’s amazing that someone so young in our community is putting their energy towards something so meaningful, influential, and needed on campus.” Irie Cooper ’20 agreed. “If you’re passionate about it, you might as well pursue it further by starting your own club,” she said.
Grant admitted that while she hasn’t been at Choate for long, she noticed that “many students of color have different experiences than their peers” and that “there are many issues that people in the world face that I personally feel that Choate hasn’t really addressed.” She said that while Origins and Mixed Heritage Association by themselves will not solve these wide-scale problems, she does hope that they will help bridge the gap by informing students and acting as avenues for personal expression.
