New Trier High School, north of the city in Winnetka, Illinois, erupted when a white privilege conference sparked backlash from parents in the community. The February 28 workshop, “Understanding Today’s Struggle for Civil Rights,” elicited outrage from those opposed to this hot-button topic.

Critics of the conference pointed at the lack of politically conservative speakers at the event as constituting a liberal bias. Parents opposed to the workshop created a group, “Parents of New Trier,” as well as a Facebook page and website.

The website shares various articles reflecting their political position. Of these articles, one titled “White Guilt Invades Elite Illinois High School” was posted a week prior to the conference. The homepage of the website features a header that reads “Because Real Change Takes Courage–Not Cliches.”

New Trier senior Sara Golden did not anticipate the outcry that the conference would spur. Golden said, “It was really surprising when I heard people arguing about it.”  Golden attended a seminar and one of the five workshops during the event.

Two of the speakers to which “Parents of New Trier” are opposed are currently incorporated in Parker’s curriculum.

Last year, Parker held a Morning Ex on the topic of white privilege, causing unexpected negative responses from the student body that created a scandal of its own.  85% of students at NTHS are white, according to Illinois Report Card, while Parker’s white students amount to 67% of the student body.

The event revolved around a lecture-style seminar with smaller separate workshops following. These workshops included “21 Century Voter Suppression,” “Advancing Civil Rights or Reverse Discrimination?: Affirmative Action in Elite College Admissions (Part 1 of 2),” and about 30 others.  

Keynote speakers included author Colson Whitehead, who spoke at Parker recently, and whose book “Sag Harbor” is used in English teacher and co-chair Theresa Collins’s “Identity Development” elective. The other keynote speaker, Andrew Aydin–author of “March,” which is taught in History department co-chair Andrew Bigelow’s course–was a guest speaker at Parker last year.

For Bigelow, civil rights and white privilege are crucial elements in any education in the US.  “I think that people often wrongly equate civil rights with liberalism,” Bigelow said, “which is sad because civil rights is suppose to be an American agenda.”

Collins, a lifelong resident of Evanston, located next to Winnetka, wrote a letter to the superintendent of New Trier, along with eight staff members with which she was familiar. Collins spoke in support of the conference.

Collins said in the letter, “My colleagues at New Trier High School should be lauded for their effort.”  As the current president of the “Progressive Education Network,” an organization that focuses on reforming flaws and implementing a progressive outlook in education, Collins wanted to support student needs.

The goal was to “amplify students’ voice,” Collins said in the letter. “Nothing could be more responsive, and nothing more timely or, frankly, correct than listening to the students when they express a need for more understanding of their world.”