On Thursday, May 22, the Guilderland High School Student Voice Committee hosted its fifth annual Anti-Hate Rally. Held in the Large Group Instruction (LGI) room, the event featured student speeches, presentations and activities centered around this year’s theme: building bridges. The rally served as the culminating event of Unity Week—a series of school-wide initiatives designed to foster connection and inclusivity within the GHS community. Students also organized a DEI-focused breakfast during the week, creating an opportunity for thoughtful discussion around community building and the importance of bridging social and cultural differences.
Student Voices
Sponsored by the Student Voice Committee, Black Student Union, Feminist Club, March For Our Lives, Asian Student Union, and Hindu Club, the rally created a space for marginalized and underrepresented students to share their voices. Attended by students, teachers, staff, board of education and community members, the event encouraged everyone to actively listen, keep an open mind, and learn from the experiences shared.
Student speakers bravely shared their personal experiences with prejudice and bigotry in various forms, offering powerful stories that highlighted the impact of bias in their daily lives. Their stories and raw emotion gave attendees a deeper understanding of the harm caused by derogatory language, discrimination and injustice. Several students recalled comments made about their identities, physical appearance and mannerisms—some describing harassment they faced nearly every day. Others shared stories about their internal struggles with conflicting identities, their fears of not being accepted, and the pressure to conform to societal expectations to feel safe or included.
As one student stated, “We aren’t one giant organism with shared thoughts and feelings. We are each our own.”
Reimagined Privilege Walk and Student-Led Activities
Students led attendees through a series of engaging activities focused on building bridges. In the first, participants stood in two circles—one inside the other—and were asked questions about their identity, culture and experiences with bias. After some time, those in the inner circle rotated one step to the right to repeat the process with a new partner. The purpose of this activity was to break down social barriers and help participants connect with people they might not otherwise talk to, building bridges of connection through shared stories and common interests.
Second, attendees participated in a reimagined privilege walk and gathered in the center of the Large Group Instruction room. As the facilitators read statements, participants walked to one of three areas designated as “agree, disagree or neutral,” based on whether the statement was true for them or not. The statements focused on various aspects of privilege, such as “there is no school on a holiday celebrated within my family.” The goal of this activity was for participants to recognize and develop awareness of their privilege and think about how it affects their lives and the lives of others.
Next, the Black Student Union led an activity that encouraged collaboration and learning through a focus on Black history and excellence. Attendees were divided into small groups, and each group received a card with four to ten multiple-choice questions. At the bottom of the card were blanks that matched the number of questions, and each blank corresponded to the letter of the correct answer. After completing the questions and filling in the blanks, a word or short phrase was revealed to participants. Once all groups finished, everyone worked together using their words or short phrases to form a quote. This activity helped connect participants while deepening their understanding of the challenges and biases faced by the Black community, ultimately bringing everyone together through a shared message.
Presentations were then delivered by March For Our Lives and the Black Student Union, with both emphasizing that building bridges is essential to overcoming challenges and creating unity. Each group addressed the difficult realities students face today, including gun violence and hateful rhetoric, while highlighting recent examples in the media and sharing their personal stories and ideas.
Enacting Change
Throughout the rally, students considered what steps could be taken to enact change. Many stated sincerely listening and forming spaces for inclusive discussions could go miles in making Guilderland a more equitable place. Others empowered the audience to embrace all aspects of their identities, with one student saying “GHS contains a diverse student body with different experiences and backgrounds. It’s important to both listen and share with others and explore our connections. It’s important to step out of comfort zones and take time to understand where each person is coming from.”
Students also offered specific examples, including pronouncing names correctly, addressing a student by their preferred pronouns, and prioritizing events such as the Anti-Hate Rally. As one student said, “We must look towards bodies like our student government and administration to work together as partners to make everything possible. We as a school must work together to build bridges and persevere together.”
Positive Affirmations
Student facilitators explained that humans have thousands of thoughts per day and a majority of them are negative. To combat this, attendees were invited to create posters of positive affirmations using colorful markers. Uplifting words and messages such as “you are valued and important,” “be proud of who you are,” “you can try new things,” “it’s okay to be different,” and “think positive” covered the floor of the LGI.
Rising Above and a Pledge of Inclusion
As the rally approached its end, a member of the Black Student Union read Maya Angelou’s poem “And Still I Rise,” reiterating the importance of speaking up and using the power of voice to fight discrimination and bigotry. A moment of silence followed, where student leaders reminded attendees that for every story told, there are countless others that are silenced.
Rally organizers concluded the event by leading the crowd in reciting a pledge of inclusivity: “We the students and staff of Guilderland High School commit to an active and earnest pursuit of anti-racism. We seek to challenge and dismantle racist ideology in our classrooms, school and community at large. We will support the education and advocacy of anti-racist ideology and practice in our classrooms, school and community at large. We are determined to foster and promote a more inclusive school environment where the entire school community feels safe, heard and secure on the basis of race. We hold ourselves and our community accountable to challenging racism.”