Last Friday, my friend and I went to the CaMD scholar presentation by Chloe Rhee ’24, “The 1835 Anti-Slavery Rebellion at Andover.” The Anti-Slavery Rebellion, according to Chloe, was led by a small group of Andover students who supported the abolition of slavery. In contrast to the students’ beliefs, the institution’s views were contrary to Andover’s current vision towards knowledge and goodness; Andover at the time believed that goodness comes from maintaining Christian values and that freeing the Black slaves went against their Christian values. I was completely stunned by the bravery of the Andover students during the rebellion, who determinedly left our campus when the institution threatened that supporting immediate abolitionism would get them expelled. Learning of this painful history, I began to ponder about our school’s one of the most important motto: knowledge and goodness. We, as Andover students, have a duty to use our knowledge through empathy.
Upholding our value of goodness is special, and difficult at the same time because it requires an extra effort called “empathy.” If we question how the students during the 1835 Anti-Slavery movement were able to promote such revolutionary ideals when the rest of the society considered it “wrong,” I would say that they had empathy: the ability to put themselves in others’ shoes. Empathy is the foundation of goodness. It cannot be altered by the differing standards of what is “right” because it is so evident that no one wants to experience what “I” don’t want to experience.
However, in our ever changing world with so many spices and stimuli, it’s easy to lose a sense of empathy and hide behind our screens and social media that offer just the things that you want to see and hear. Although our modern society is going through many tumultuous events, like the Black Lives Matter movement, climate change, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, most people don’t take the initiative to truly understand the issues or to think about what they must do as a member of the society. Even at our school, I’ve noticed a culture of disrespect sprouting in some of the audience during All-School Meeting speeches. The popular audience looks at the news headlines, maybe tries to sound educated by knowing the names of the events, but gets distracted by what is more available to them — the TV shows on Netflix, the funny reels from Instagram, or gaming. It’s ironic how we have developed so much apathy when we’re living in a time where we have never been so interconnected.
But even if the rest of the world is growing more distant, we have a responsibility as Andover students to be non sibi, viewing the world through empathy and courage, not hesitating to educate ourselves about the world, and voicing our opinions when change is needed. No matter which background we come from, it is undeniable that we have the privilege of enjoying the education and resources of Andover. Our knowledge is a tool used by the intent. Knowledge makes goodness stronger by providing agency and power, but knowledge without goodness is susceptible to corruption, injustice, or apathy. We have duties as those who are privileged to receive this education, and it is when we neglect this duty that we fall behind and lose our tradition of being pioneers of change.
Andover’s main power comes from the students. I know this for a fact because Andover has already transformed me into a more nuanced person in less than a year. Before coming to Andover, I never had a chance to be introduced to or to discuss social issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the history of an Anti-Slavery Rebellion at a high school institution. Although I’m embarrassed to admit, I was not used to asking for the preferred pronouns the first time you meet a person. I am not fully fluent in these habits yet, but I have become conscious of the necessity of these habits and remind myself to enforce them in my daily life. The students at Andover have been, are, and will continue to be innovative and revolutionary. We just need to hold on to our empathy.
