High-school students from across Long Island gathered at Adelphi University on Feb. 1 for a day promoting human rights, respect and sensitivity for people of all races, religions, cultures, ages and genders at the 32nd Annual Human Rights Awareness Conference, Your Human Rights Are My Responsibility.
The Nassau County Human Rights Commission and Adelphi’s Ruth S. Ammon School of Education collaborated on the event, which welcomed 300 high school seniors and juniors representing 20-plus Nassau County school districts.
The day started with Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, who delivered a keynote speech, and a welcome from Anne Mungai, interim dean of Adelphi’s Ruth S. Ammon School of Education.
“I hope that all the students will learn to respect all people and how to negotiate issues that arise about diversity. This conference should help change attitudes towards others,” said Mungai, who told the students that they are ready to be 21st-century leaders who understand human rights and dignity.
She said that Adelphi could become a future university for many of the students, adding, “we are a university that supports our students until we see them graduate. We have open-door policies, great advisers and great programs.”
The day continued with multiple workshops running concurrently. They included: Addressing the Mental Health Gap in the LBBTQ+ Community presented by Peer Navigators, Interacting with the Police presented by police officer Joseph Monez, Targeted Teens: Discrimination and Diversity in our School presented by Students of Mepham High School’s School and Community Leadership advised by Jacqueline Galler, SUSS- Students United for Safe Schools presented by Kara Santucci from the Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS), The Power of Symbols Deconstructing Hate presented by Helen Turner from The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County, Immigrant Youth on Long Island: Do They Have Rights? Presented by ADA Silvia Pastor Finkelstein, the director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, LGBT+ Around the World presented by the students of the Wheatley High School’s Gender-Identity Sexual-Orientation Acceptance Club advised by Birthe Seferian and Addressing Racism presented by Patrice A. Leach from the Adelphi Diversity Program.
The day concluded with a performance of “Now You Hear Me,” an original dramatic piece created with six theatre majors including Carson Ferguson, Rachel Hernstat, Crystal Hernandez, Billy Meurer, Brianna Carella and senior Isuri Wijesundara, who co-directed with Maggie Lally ’82, an associate professor in the Department of Theatre.
The performance was a multimedia presentation created by the ensemble addressing issues of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The performers wrote monologues based on personal experiences to highlight different aspects of sexual abuse and harassment.
“The message is ‘We’re listening and we believe you,’” explained Lally, who is invited every year to create an original piece on a social justice issue that resonates with her theater students. “We hope students left with a clearer understanding of what constitutes sexual harassment and assault and will seek out help if they are a survivor and if they are a potential perpetrator (unwittingly because of ignorance) now they have the knowledge to avoid doing so.”
