Andover orientation for new Lowers, Upper, Seniors, and Post-Graduates (PGs) included mandatory Consent Culture Training for the first time this year. Hosted on September 7 in the Freedom Room of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library, this event gave the new members of the community insight into the importance of consent at Phillips Academy.
David Gardner, Assistant Dean of Students and Instructor in English, explained how the Consent Culture Talk was organized and what the intent of the event was. Additionally, he outlined the activities done by the students and noted the importance of the selected exercises.
Gardner wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “Ryan Milligan, the Academy’s conduct response specialist, created and facilitated the Consent Culture Training for new Lowers, Uppers, Seniors, and PGs. The training was designed to provide students with an opportunity to spend some time here at the beginning of their Andover career thinking about PA’s commitment to building a safe, healthy, and inclusive community for all.”
He continued on, “Students were introduced to our affirmative consent standard (found on pages 11 and 12 of the Blue Book), and at the end of the session students engaged in a writing exercise to affirm their commitment to our school’s values and principles regarding respect, agency, boundaries, and consent. The reasoning behind having students engage in this writing exercise is provided on the form: ‘Studies have shown that communities where everyone acknowledges their understanding of the affirmative consent standard in a simple writing exercise experience a decrease in sexual violence on their campuses,’”
Sean Kim ’26, a new Upper, expressed his initial uncertainty about the reasoning behind including the event in the Orientation program. However, by the end, he stressed that the event and speaker should continue to be included in future new student Orientation.
“Going to the talk, I was quite clueless on what was going on. I didn’t know what [the consent programing] was about. However, after it was much more clear why we need this [event] and how it is important to have these conversations. Although it might be boring and last an hour, it is an important topic that we all should go over… Everyone should have [the consent culture training talk] and we should continue it for the years to come for the new students that come to Phillips Academy,” said Kim.
Karla Safarikova ’27, a new Lower, also noted that she was slightly confused as to what the event would be about before attending. Echoing a takeaway from the meeting, she noted the importance of having this discussion with the new students at Andover.
“I was not sure what [it] would be about, but it’s a helpful thing to have here to talk about [consent] and make sure it’s very clear. It’s very helpful that the school is openly talking about it… Make sure that when you give consent, it’s a clear ‘yes’ and not a ‘sure’ or ‘maybe.’ You should also look for subtle signs. If someone says ‘yes,’ make sure [they are] very enthusiastic,” said Safarikova.
David Fridia ’25, a new PG, expressed his appreciation for the increase in attention on consent. Fridia voiced that making the connection between consent and respect was his biggest takeaway.
“It was a great talk about a lot of specific things that need to be addressed in general… I feel like [consent] needs to be discussed [more] in the world today. My opinion [before and after] didn’t change but I [gained] knowledge on what exactly to feel or to think about [consent]… I would say [my biggest takeaway is] just respect in general. Respect people, respect how people feel, basically knowing how certain people are and understanding or comprehending exactly what they want or what they don’t want, or how they feel or how they don’t feel,” said Fridia.Consent Culture Training Implemented for New Lowers and New Upperclassmen
