News and Media

Message on Civil Unrest at the United States Capitol


Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Dear Tower Hill families,
 
As our country reflects upon yesterday’s news from Washington, I wanted you to know that we are taking time at school today to discuss current events and our school values in age-appropriate ways. Following is the message I shared with Middle and Upper School students and faculty. 
 
In unity for Tower Hill, 
Elizabeth C. Speers
Head of School 
 
 
Message from Head of School Bessie Speers on Civil Unrest at the United States Capitol
 
I want to read you the first verse of a song, a hymn really, written and composed by James Weldon Johnson and his brother. They created it to be sung at President Lincoln’s birthday in 1900, and it was sung by 500 students of color. School children kept singing this song over the years, and they grew up and became teachers who taught it to other children. It now is sung all over the country:
 
Lift every voice and sing
Til earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, 
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on til victory is won. 
 
Yesterday, Jan. 6, was the day of Epiphany in the Christian tradition. The word epiphany, no matter what your religious belief may be, means illumination, light, a discovery or understanding. In contrast, yesterday was also a day that will go down in our country’s history as a sad day, one that does not represent who we are as a country, and the day that our democratic process was interrupted by a mob who attacked the Capitol.
 
Today we want you to be able to focus on your classes and school work, but we also recognize that we all need time to digest and try to make sense of yesterday’s events. 

I wanted to offer a few ways to suggest how we can go about this together, in ways that are true to who we are as the Tower Hill community. We are a strong community, and our mission and values are based on respect, diversity of opinions, resilience, hard work, sportsmanship, confidence in speaking up for what we believe and humility in listening to others whose opinions may differ from our own. 

This diversity of thought and the ability to share and explore ideas from different perspectives is what make schools intellectual, safe and, I would say, even sacred places for our minds and hearts. At Tower Hill, we are strong, resilient and committed to remaining united. We will remain united as we discuss and consider yesterday’s events. Not doing so would be antithetical to our very mission as a 101-year-old academic community. As the Tower Hill community, we have the reassurance of deeply held school values to guide us through challenging times. The unity of knowledge and kindness — essential to academic excellence — guides us to face these challenges with intellectual rigor, empathy and integrity. 

We must always live up to our community standards of civil discourse. Doing so leads to deeper understanding; it is an essential component of an intellectual community; and it is most critical during these challenging times.
 
First of all, I want you to hear clearly, what I am going to share with you is not about politics. Regardless of anyone’s political opinions or interests, I want you to hear clearly that:
  • Violence is never the answer.
  • We are better than this as a country.
  • What we saw yesterday was not normal. Never think that this type of attack should be acceptable or normal.
  • One of our country’s greatest pride points is our ability to have a peaceful transfer of power.
  • Peace does not mean no conflict or no difference of opinions; however, peace is predicated on civil discourse and trusting in a respectful process.
  • We all have a right to disagree and to share our opinions, but what happened yesterday was very different; it was an egregious affront to our democracy.
  • Our country is seen as the example, an anchor and beacon of democratic ideals and process.
  • The life we enjoy as Americans is a result of many years of honoring the importance of democracy in action.
  • Being part of the democratic process is one of our greatest privileges and responsibilities. Engaging in civil discourse and debate, and navigating the structures and systems that impact our communities, actually affects each of us. Our voice and our votes matter.
  • If you learn one thing from your time at Tower Hill, I want you to learn how to win with humility and lose with grace. Be a humble winner and gracious loser.
  • We must as human beings learn the power of our words. We must watch our words. They can hurt, cause chaos and confuse people.
  • Please be part of the solution in modeling this every day.
  • Our country is based on the notion that we are stronger united as one country, one destiny — and that requires putting our democratic ideals above our own desires and opinions.
  • We can all be part of the healing needed in our country.
  • The country of South Africa put into place a deliberate system of truth and reconciliation in order to rid the country of racism, hatred and violence. Our country still has some truth and reconciliation needed in order to heal and move forward.
  • There is no one better at truth and reconciliation than our students. 
Here are a few possibilities for constructive, honest dialogue, questions, and individual and community self care, which your teachers and I hope happen in the hallways or in your classrooms today and in the days ahead. Students may say to themselves:
 
“I am confused, sad, angry or have questions about the events in our country’s capital yesterday, and I really want to be able to depend on my friends, classmates and teachers who I know are willing listen and share ideas and feelings.” 
 
“This is bothering me so much that I think I may go to the Wellness Center to meet with our school psychologist.” 
 
“How can I help? How can we help as students?” 
 
“What can we learn about ourselves, our country and our own communities?” 
 
“My voice is important, and I want to make sure I share my thoughts respectfully, so I may go to my advisor to share my thoughts before I put them on social media or share them with my friend, just to be sure they are respectful.”
 
“Social media makes everything seems so dire, scary and divided. Is it always accurate?” 
 
So, today in a way that we can feel among one another like never before, let’s rise to the challenge, as the Tower Hill community. Let’s show our friends, families and even the country how to model civil discourse at the highest level. Let’s promise ourselves that we will remain united, always. Unity takes dedication, hard work, resilience, the ability to see light through darkness and to love one another deeply. Let’s recommit to UNITY. Tower Hill UNITED!
 
So as we “face the rising sun of our new day begun,” 
Let’s “sing a song full of faith that the dark past has taught us.”
Let’s “sing a song full of hope that the present has brought us.”
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