On Wednesday November 9, the morning after the Presidential election, Principal Dan Frank, “knowing that for a good group of people it was a difficult time,” stood with Upper School Head Ruth Jurgensen in front of the school building and held open the heavy glass doors for entering students and teachers. The gesture was one way for administrators to project a sense of familiarity and community from the school.   

The usual buzz and chatter of an average Wednesday was replaced by quieter conversations, noticeable silence, and some crying.  

That same Wednesday, upper school History teacher Dan Greenstone and History Department Chair Andy Bigelow gave an MX that aimed to explain how and why Trump won. While the two teachers maintained their composure on the podium, it was not easy even for them.  “I did not predict that this was going to happen,” Greenstone said. “I still can’t believe we did that MX.  It was so hard.” Greenstone has been off Facebook since election day and remains, in his words, “deeply, deeply depressed.”

At the same time, though, he does feel he has “some skill in explaining what happened and why Trump won.”  He said, “Those are the things I’ve trained for and do for a living.”

For former Director of Education Technology, current Director of TIDES and teacher of Media and Society and Social Entrepreneurship Martin Moran, the teachable moment was the role social media played in influencing voters. “The simplest way to think about it is that social media is an amplifier and an accelerant,” Moran said. “In a system by which misinformation–sometimes intentional but sometimes by mistake–goes so much faster, the impact of that information has such a greater influence on people’s actions that it played an unbelievable role on the concept of truth.”

Student Government in conjunction with Jurgensen organized “medium meetings”––one for grades 9th and 10th, one for 11th and 12th––that Friday “to capture initial hopes and fears of students,” according to an email she sent to upper school families, “as they continue to process this past election season (while speaking to the fact that we do not assume a student’s affiliation with one party or another) with a guided prompt, activity and discussion.” Student-run groups also stepped up to moderate discussions during the following days. Both the Environmental Club and the Latin American Student Organization have held lunch meetings to talk about issues facing their particular groups.

Many students shared sentiments like that of senior Rowan Gledhill, who during a medium meeting expressed that he’s “scared by the violence that is going to be inspired by a bigot being president.”

People from around the building anonymously voiced opinions on the long blank sheets tacked up by upper school history teacher Jeanne Barr, whose directions in the center of the sheets read, “If you want to, write what you’re feeling today.” Most of the notes reflected dismay at Trump’s statements of prejudice and bigotry (“Boys will be boys is no excuse”) and Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s support of anti-gay legislation (“Trump-Pence support conversion therapy… I’m going to crawl back into the closet”).

While it is difficult for some in this urban, predominantly left-leaning community to comprehend the logic behind a Trump win, bus driver Calvin Johnson, who transports Parker students to off-site activities, suggested that many Trump supporters made a distinction between the entertainment factor of Trump’s public persona and his core message.

The message that resonated with voters, according to Johnson, had to do with getting back to America’s basic principles of “industry and rugged individualism, and the integrity of American culture,” Johnson said. Describing himself as an African-American Christian conservative, Johnson, 46 years old and living in the West Side of Chicago, criticized the unwillingness of people on opposite sides of the issues to engage in conversation.

“When people cannot stand to be in earshot of someone that has a different opinion, what is that?” Johnson said. “You don’t agree with the person, that is fine.  For a person to attach an animus and hatred based on that person’s opposing idea, I find that atrocious.”

Since the election, Frank has sent two mass emails, one to the broader Parker community and one specifically to students, recognizing that the results of the election presented a “teachable moment” for a school whose mission includes educating students to act with empathy, courage, and clarity.  While division describes much of our national life today, Frank said that “the hope for understanding and unity through reasoned inquiry and civil discourse still finds expression here at Parker.”

According to Frank’s email, Parker values “see[ing] the world from multiple points of view,” and showing respect for others may be the most effective way for “us to learn how to be open to one another’s views with the aim of creating common ground and the possibility of having our initial opinions expanded, enriched or altered.”