High schoolers are normally trusted with naming power on Kahoot, keeping CrazyTiger, DynamicQuail, and RockstarEgret off the leaderboard. On September 24, the student body saw usernames that went beyond expected profanities and innuendos, instead making light of the Civil Rights Movement and lynching.

During the plenary before Homecoming Weekend, the Student Athletic Council hosted a Kahoot with questions about Parker sports. Student Government officers requested that students use their first and last name only, however, two usernames were submitted referencing key figures to civil rights history –  activist and minister Martin Luther King Jr. and Emmett Louis Till, who was murdered by white supremacists.

It is unknown to administrators who submitted these and whether it was done by the same student.

“Actions like that are done for humor and for attention,” Executive Advisor Ivy Jacobs said. “Coming out of online school, not everyone is used to being in groups of 300 people… it’s unfortunate that spaces like Plenary, which are used to foster community and make change on behalf of the student body, are instead used, as in this case, to try and get a laugh.”

The following Plenary, Jacobs joined President Eli Moog on stage to address the names with statements from Inclusion Coordinator Saroya Ornelas Pagnucci and Upper School Head Chris Arnold and no time for questions.

“These names should only ever be used with the utmost respect and to honor their memory,” Ornelas Pagnucci said in a statement to the plenary. “We as a community have the responsibility to create a safe space in which everyone feels included, respected, and valued.”

Orenelas Pagnucci said that for future Student Government Kahoots, names will not be projected and will be moderated off-screen.

“Incidents like this can possibly be harmful and triggering,” Ornelas Pagnucci said. “We want to make it clear that these actions can and do have effects on people.”

Arnold said that according to the updated Parker handbook, the usernames could constitute harassment and hate speech which can both be met with suspension or expulsion. After outlining the disciplinary implications, he opted to “speak from the heart.’

“Right now I’m speaking as the Head of the Upper School, but I’m also speaking as a man of color in America,” Arnold said. “It’s not a joke. It’s not funny, and it won’t be tolerated.”

Arnold also shared that the administration would not be pursuing an investigation to figure out who submitted the usernames.

“At this time, whoever did it you got away with it,” Arnold said. “I hope right now you’re feeling shame in your heart because that is not okay, and if we ever find out somebody’s doing something like that, we will react strongly.”

Moog was stationed in the auditorium booth removing profane names with sexual innuendos. He said the username “Emmett Till” appeared on screen in a lag period between the game starting and the first question appearing. After consulting with Student Government faculty advisor Jeanne Barr, Jacobs and Moog said they did not want to react in the moment without preparation for fully communicating the historical gravity of the situation.

In 1955 Mississippi, two white men brutally kidnapped and lynched Till, a 14-year-old Black child, and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River. Carolyn Bryant, who later admitted that the majority of her allegations were false, took advantage of the racist historical stereotype that black men were “corrupting” the innocence of white women. She stuck her husband and brother-in-law on Till after claiming he whistled at her outside a storefront. 

His murder was the catalyst for many young Black people to join the Civil Rights movement, after his mother requested an open-casket funeral to show the extent of the vioelence done to Till and the image was published in “Jet” magazine.

They decided to react at the next plenary, though they had planned for Small Groups since August. Instead of the 15 minute early dismissal Moog had originally planned, they had the whole student body congregate in the auditorium to hear from Ornelas Pagnucci and Arnold.

Though Cabinet originally planned to visit each Small Groups room and condemn the incident, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee communicated with the faculty advisors that an adult helped lead the conversation. 

Ornelas developed her statement as a part of her work as Inclusion Coordinator. “ In my statement, I focused on the Parker values that we work so hard to instill in our community,” she said. “I then sent this draft to Ms. Barr and Ms. Garner, who made small edits to make sure that my writing was serving its purpose while still keeping specific blame or intent out of it.”

“It was important for us that it wasn’t just Saroya,” Jacobs said. “It’s tough when you are an underclassman and you have to go and talk to 300 kids and say something that went wrong.”

Jacobs said that she appreciated Arnold’s willingness to address the body and his work with the DEI committee to make sure the statement was appropriately stern. “Oftentimes at Parker we dance around things that happen,” Jacobs said. “We address them in terms of holistic, systemic things that need to change, and not ‘this is the thing that happened, we’re going to name it and then we’re going to say that it’s bad.’” 

Moog was happy with two statements and the transition into Small Groups where students could continue discussion about the state of the school. “We can deal with the problems we have and still be productive as a body,” Moog said.

He said that this incident reminded him of the over 100 stories shared on @fwpanonymous during Summer 2020 that detailed racist and white supremacist incidents at Parker went mostly unaddressed by the amdinistation. “The environment has not really changed,” Moog said. “It shouldn’t be reactive, we have to be proactive.” 

Jacobs agreed. “Simply, things like days of reflection do not appropriately demonstrate the heaviness of these actions, Kahoot names, text messages, whatever they are,” Jacobs said. 

“The administration also needs to recognize that this is not a one off incident,” Moog said. “This probably happens a lot more than we know but it just happens within five friends and not in front of the entire student body, and that’s why it was addressed. We need to try to find a way to address it with whatever form it takes in our community.”

Though both Moog and Jacobs want to see more action from the administration, Jacobs said that the student body needs to take responsibility for taking existing efforts seriously. 

“It’s easy for us as students to make jokes about ‘oh, look at this great anti-racist work that the school’s doing, they’re putting a plaque on Circle Drive,’” Jacobs said, “but I also think it’s important that we do acknowledge these efforts because they are small steps towards a larger cultural shift.”