This year, during Solidarity Week, Poly’s Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) affinity group held multiple activities to make the celebration interactive and welcoming. Solidarity means a sense of togetherness according to the Free and Equal Journal. Solidarity Week is “a way for students to learn about difference, respect, and safety for every member of our school community, while celebrating allyship and encouraging solidarity with LGBTQ+ youth here at Poly and beyond,” said Dean of Students Jared Winston in a 2024 Polygon article. Accordingly, Poly Prep faculty emphasized the importance of allowing students to guide their community through a celebration of solidarity throughout various events, such as a drag show, scavenger hunt, photo booth, assembly and movie night.”
Considering that so many other events, such as commencement or other end-of-year activities, take place during Pride Month in June, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), Erika Freeman, explained that Solidarity Week, which takes place in November, is an important celebration for the community. “We don’t create the same kind of space during Pride Week that we do for other heritage months,” she said. Solidarity Week comes at “the beginning of the year to really raise awareness about the inequities and the bullying and what student members of the LGBTQ+ community face,” Freeman added.To kick off Solidarity Week, on Monday, a drag performance for the whole school was held in the Chapel,“Drag is part of a social movement [that] has been important to the queer community,” said Freeman. The drag race was a showcase of the LGBTQ+ community and a way to bring students together. On Tuesday, there was a scavenger hunt across the Poly campus to find the various flags of the LGBTQ+ community. The goal was to allow students to enjoy an interactive activity while also raising awareness about the multiple identities in the LGBTQ community. On Wednesday, a movie was held in the Sabbagh Alumni Building’s Gazzani room, which Freeman said was for “inviting people to share in cinema and art.” Both Freeman and the GSA group wanted to give all students multiple chances to experience solidarity through interactive and physical activities, as well as more art-focused, relaxed activities. Member of GSA, Nate Hyman said, “We added a lot of activities, [like] the movie,” and “I think we did a lot more interactive activities this year.” Finally, on Thursday, an assembly was held in honor of Solidarity Week. Freeman said she “wanted [the] Upper School to think about really what it means to be an ally or to be in solidarity with people, and the importance of standing up, and the struggles that people have faced.”
Hyman mentioned the various activities and said “I think we did a lot more interactive activities this year.” Hyman believes that taking a fun approach to celebrating solidarity could benefit students’ reactions to it.
History Faculty and Faculty leader of GSA AJ Blandford, wanted to allow their students to lead, and not influence them with their own opinions. They emphasized the importance of allowing students to guide their community through a celebration of solidarity and togetherness.
One of the main reasons for Solidarity Week is that it is the only day the whole school is together. The Poly community wants to demonstrate solidarity by having the entire school united for one day. Every year, everyone joins to take a pride flag photo, symbolizing acceptance and solidarity. According to GLSEN Solidarity, “collective action is powerful in enacting change.”
Freeman explained that Solidarity Week is an important celebration for the community, considering that in June, during Pride Month, so many things happen that the celebration is overlooked, such as graduation and end-of-year activities. Freeman said, “We don’t create the same kind of space during Pride Week that we do for other heritage months.” She thinks the attention should be completely on the LGBTQ+ community, so Solidarity Week is perfect for bringing attention to the bullying LGBTQ+ members experience.
Poly then held its annual Solidarity Day event on November 11, a day when Lower School students visit the Dyker Heights campus to engage in team-building activities. “[It’s about] being community-minded. It is that one day, is the one time during the whole year where our entire community is together,” said Freeman.
