On May 19, about 128 high school students from Ansonia, Meriden (Platt High School), New Haven (New Haven Academy) and Southbury (Pomperaug High School) participated in a Global Citizenship Summit at Quinnipiac University.
The “Summit on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” was hosted by Quinnipiac’s School of Education and held on the North Haven campus. This student-led conference gave those involved the opportunity to understand different perspectives, to be aware of the world around them, and to understand how they can make a difference.
“It is important that students have the opportunity to see how the content we discuss is being worked on by professionals in the real world,” Pomperaug teacher and summit advisor Michael Syrotiak said.
Guest speakers included Erin Corbett, program director of the QU Prison Project; Don Sawyer, vice president for equity, inclusion and leadership development at Quinnipiac; Caroline Sennett, director of immigration legal services for the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants; Dwight Sharpe, a consultant for the Connecticut State Education Resource Center; and JT Torres, assistant professor of English, and director of QU’s Center for Teaching and Learning.
Platt student Valeri Ruiz-Acosta said, “I really liked how (Don Sawyer) mentioned that you need to see things through the lens of hope and possibility and not to let negatives brings you down. Don’t let other people tell you you can’t do something, because you can.”