Archer hosts a variety of affinity groups, including the Black Student Union, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance and Hermanas Unidas. These Advocacy, Affinity and Alliance clubs are spaces for community, identity, experience and activism. Before the annual Sept. 25 Club Fair fills up students’ calendars, Archer’s affinity groups are finding their own ways to welcome students and educate the community.
In August, before the start of the school year, BSU invited new and returning members and their families to a welcome event planned by the BSU Executive Board. The gathering was meant for new students to learn more about Archer’s culture and enjoy food and music. They also ran a student-led panel about navigating Archer as a person of color and sharing BSU’s intentions for the year. The event was hosted at Executive Board member Milan Earl’s (’27) house.
“I wanted them to know that they can be themselves and know they have a group of girls behind them,” Earl said. “As Black girls at Archer, and especially just affinity groups in general, you have a support system behind you, and we’re there to support you if you need anything at all.”
The student-led panel welcomed attendees to ask seventh through 10th grade students about the affinity group and the general school environment. Senior Alexa Grant is a member of the BSU Executive Board and helped organize the event.
“I think [the panel] was good because it allowed parents and students to really get a sense of Archer and ask deep-hitting questions,” Grant said. “You can really hear it from the perspective of a minority student in a very neutral and safe space, so we can tell the kids some things that are going to happen.”
The Asian Pacific Student Union planned a similar event on campus before the Club Fair. Their event took place during lunch Friday, Sept. 19. Junior Ashley Chan is a member of the APSU Executive Board and helped plan it.
“We’re planning several games to get to know everybody better … something we were hoping to do is form a strong community and bond between AAPI students among middle and upper school, ” Chan said in an interview before the gathering. “We’re also going to have snacks, prizes and games.”
Similarly to BSU, Chan explained that the timing of the APSU meeting was intentional. The Club Fair can get chaotic, she said, so APSU wanted to make sure they aren’t skipped over and get the attention of as many new students as possible.
While BSU and APSU focused on social gatherings to start, the Jewish Student Union decided to do educational presentations. They taught students from all grades about the Jewish High Holy Days in the Zeller Student Center Sept. 16 and 17. Senior Lucy Kaplan presented with other JSU members.
“We are doing presentations for the middle and upper school about Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, and then following that up is Yom Kippur,” Kaplan said. “We’ll be presenting to the school about that, and we might have a club meeting on it.”
While the school year has just started, Archer’s affinity groups have already begun focusing on building and nurturing students. Grant said she wants to make sure new students do not feel awkward or isolated when coming into a different environment.
“The Club Fair isn’t until the 25th, and we have basically a whole month of school where none of us are really able to connect,” Grant said. “Being able to really meet these kids beforehand and get those relationships going now — seeing what buses they’ll be on and what classes they have — can help them have a very easy transition.”
