This second installment of Friends From the Archives will dive into the history of a day recently passed: Day of Concern. On Tuesday, March 28, 1989, all classes at Friends Seminary were suspended, no homework was assigned, and hallways were crowded with students. Preparation for this special day began in the fall of 1988 after a Friends senior, Josh Wachs, proposed the idea to the administration. Josh and a small student committee planned the event titled “Day of Concern: Race Relations in New York.” As the title suggests, the first Day of Concern was focused on issues of race in New York City.
The schedule of the first Day of Concern was quite similar to the one we follow today. The event opened at 9:00 A.M. with a keynote address by Manhattan Borough President and mayoral candidate David Dinkins who discussed racism in New York City. Next, two workshop periods were run by experts in a variety of fields. These workshops were all centered around race with titles including “Race and the Law,” “Race and the Press,” “Race and Medical Services,” “Race and Housing,” and “The Psychology of Racism.” Between workshops, two more speeches were given by City Council Member Ruth Messinger and Father Chinlund, founder of the Network Program in New York Prison Systems. Nicole Davis (Class of 1990), who wrote about the day in an article for The Friends Free Press, the Friends newspaper at the time, noted that both speakers addressed racism in New York City and “the importance of dealing with the problem immediately.” The day concluded, of course, with Meeting for Worship in the Meeting House. Davis reflected, “This day is one of which not only Josh, but the whole community can be proud.” In the final sentence of her article, Davis wonders if perhaps this day would start a tradition at Friends Seminary; thirty-five years later, we can say that it did, but in what form? Today, there remains an annual Day of Concern where classes are canceled and no homework is assigned, but to what degree has Friends Seminary upheld the tradition that Josh Wachs began?
In 2015, the focus of Day of Concern was “Identity, Privilege, and Power.” Workshops included “Sticks and Stones: The Power of Language,” “Black Lives Matter: An Interactive Dialogue,” and “Mass Incarceration: The Caging of America.” In 2018, the annual theme was “Seeking Refuge: The Ethics and Politics of Migration and Immigration.” The first of two plenary sessions included the screening of a documentary, Sky & Ground, which highlighted the struggle for safety and equal rights for refugees, migrants, and displaced people and a Q&A session with the director and producers of the film. The second was hosted by author Liliana Velásquez and Mark Lyons, an editor and translator of Velásquez’s book Dreams and Nightmares. The 2019 Day of Concern focused on the year’s theme, “American Landscape: Explore, Engage, Transform” with 16 workshops including “Human Rights and Borders,” “Understanding Muslim Experiences and Combating Anti-Muslim Bias,” and “If Not Now Tell Me When—A Discussion on American Anti-Semitism in 2019.”
This year’s annual theme was “Creating Community and Connection.” The first workshop session of the day consisted of a story exchange through the organization Narrative 4. This exercise aimed to build empathy and strengthen our community. A strong community can withstand open discussion on current events, something that many students have called for this year, and the lack of which has harmed our community. This year’s workshops included “Board Game Bonanza!” and “Dance!” as well as “Field Games,” “Knitting Circle,” and “Paper Airplane Distance Derby.”
The first Day of Concern was a day focused on the pressing issue of race, allowing the Friends community to step away from their usual work to hone in on a “concern” in the world around them. Students and faculty were “given a chance to express their views,” and, according to Davis, “those who began the day with a somewhat unclear view of the problem ended it with a more focused outlook.”
Day of Concern gives students and faculty a necessary opportunity to look at issues outside of Friends Seminary. It is a day to come together in order to address problems deemed important by students, and was created with the intention of helping individuals achieve a clearer idea of the problem at hand. This year’s theme was “Creating Community and Connection,” an idea that is essential to the concept of the Day of Concern. We did come together to build empathy and connection, but what became of this strengthening of the community? Did we look outside of Friends Seminary at the vast array of concerns in the world around us? Were we brought together to have an open dialogue and to gain a more focused outlook, or simply for the sake of being together? This togetherness certainly has its merit and its place, but perhaps the Day of Concern is not only about creating a feeling. It is a day dedicated to what we can achieve and how we can grow as a community.