“My freshman year, I was slapped in the face with a culture shock,” commented Melissa Diaz ’06, who before coming to Choate attended a school that was 95% Hispanic. This, she said, was the reason behind establishing a new support group called the Multicultural Outreach Team. Since the beginning of her Choate career, Diaz has felt that there is a need for a personal support group in which multicultural and international students can more intimately and confidentially express their concerns to people who will understand them the most – their peers.

There are, as Diaz emphasized, other organizations within the school (like CALSA and the Icahn Scholars Adviser Program) that are oriented towards multicultural and international students. However, Diaz stressed that these organizations may not always provide exactly what students need. Though dedicated to issues of cultural diversity, “[these groups] are very public.” Diaz continued to explain that in many cases, students simply just want to talk to another student. Although the group will be primarily based on that peer contact, the counseling office will also advise some cases.

The team will consist of a group of eight to ten returning students from the fourth, fifth, and sixth forms. Students from all cultures, races, and backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Diaz hopes to ensure the group’s success by making its members very accessible. The names and numbers of the members of the Outreach Team will be placed on posters around campus similar to those of the Peer Educators and Assessment Team.

As Char Davidson, the advisor of the project, pointed out, the group’s success will depend on the students’ willingness to seek help. Nevertheless, International Students Adviser Dean Easton has an optimistic outlook for the group. He is positive that “the most useful and worthwhile groups arise when students take action because they see the need and have clear goals. Then the energy, the ideas, and the reasons behind the group matter to students and they want to involve themselves and make it work.”

Many argue that there is a seeming resemblance between the Multicultural Outreach Team and the previously mentioned Peer Educators and Assessment Team. According to Samuel Pape ’08, “[the group’s] multicultural twist is interesting, but it is too similar to the Assessment Team.” Diaz, herself a Peer Educator, she asserts that her group is different. She remains hesitant to even compare the Outreach Team to the other two groups. “ [Those organizations] educate about health issues, whereas the Outreach Team would be focused on social and cultural issues.” “Icahns are diversity to people at Choate,” Diaz continued, “but there are so many other kids who don’t have that kind of [program].” Both Icahn Scholars and international students have their own adviser.

Applications for the Multicultural Outreach Team are available in the deans’ offices and they are due April 17th. The students will be chosen by a group of teachers, with Melissa having some say in the final decisions. Once chosen, the students will attend three training sessions in May. Next year, when the group is up and running, the members will meet on a biweekly basis to discuss issues and projects. Diaz has taken on the flourishing of the Multicultural Outreach Team as her Senior Project, and she hopes to leave Choate this upcoming June with the program established and running.