This interview was conducted at 8:00 PM on Friday, April 9 in the Ohrstrom Library.
Ryan Murphy: Hi everybody, Ryan Murphy here for The Partisan. I’m sitting down with Chloe Abbruzzese, who's one of the top ten Sixth Form Officer finalists for the form of 2022. Chloe, thanks for being here!
Chloe Abbruzzese: Of course, I'm happy to be here.
RM: First of all, congratulations! It's a huge honor to be named one of the top ten.
CA: Thank you!
RM: How are you today? Good?
CA: I'm doing well — very well. How about you, Ryan?
RM: I'm okay. I'm hanging in there.
CA: We're only on week two so...
RM: I don't know how that is...
CA: I feel that too...
RM: Alright, I want to dive in first to your statement. You said that you will “give [this job] your all.” So what is your vision? You’re giving the job your all, right... So what is your vision for that job that you're going to give your all to?
CA: I think one thing that I really want to emphasize as an SFO is giving the student body the voice, right? That's said a lot. It's the bridge between the student body and the Rector. But I want to give a lot of ample opportunity for students to do that, not just a Google Form in the "SPS Connected." For example, a town hall between the SFOs and the sixth formers. That kind of relationship can be very intimidating, with just the Dean of Students and the Rector. We need approaches like that so that there's consistent communication between the SFOs and the students, because we do get the general feel of the student body — what's going on. But for that communication to be there, I think that would be very beneficial.
RM: You actually took away my next question!
[Laughing]
RM: I was going to ask you: What does that look like? Do you think that being a strong advocate and communicating with the student body involves more in-person things, if and hopefully when they are possible?
CA: Yeah, I think in-person activities and in-person events really add to the dynamics in the room, and understanding how students are feeling, and how the message is getting across. That's super important, and will be hopefully a really great addition to our year next year. I think we've lost a lot of...or maybe not lost a lot of communication, but it hasn't been as effective over different Zoom things, or even when they just disable the chat on webinars — a simple function like that feels like a voiceless moment for us. It's not that they're really prohibiting anything from being said — I know I can go to whoever it is I need to talk to, but it's just kind of the state of that being there... I feel like being one-on-one, being in a discussion based room, it just adds a lot to the experience.
RM: I want to shift now to campus culture, which will be a big thing next year. It's going to be close to a blank slate as we've ever had in St. Paul's history. I want to ask you about that statement. What does it mean to you to have that kind of opportunity?
CA: One of the things I really want to focus on, if given this opportunity, is the transition for new students coming here. This is something we actually talked about and was inspired by fifth form seminar. This has been the problem each year, regardless of the "blank slate" or not — that the students are just given their "big sibling," or their "buddy," and that's supposed to be their transition. But too much responsibility relies on that student alone, and in the activities for that first week. Creating planning so that new students, particularly new fourth and fifth formers, are being heard, and can have a smoother transition — I think that's one of the things we can do with our blank slate. Also, trying to really have underformers, that haven't experienced things like Chapel or common traditions, understand why they're so important to our school. I just remember seeing people take pictures in Chapel...or just seeing phones on the path. I feel like there's not a foundational understanding of traditional St. Paul's culture, or at least what that means to me and what that looks like to me. I really want to instill those values and make them clear going forward.
RM: So, you talk about the phones on the path...
CA: [Laughing] Yeah, those are just random examples...
RM: Could you put it into words what that campus culture means to you? What does that campus culture with no phones on the paths look like? What would you attribute that culture to...if that makes sense?
CA: I think that makes sense...at least the way I'm interpreting it. I want the school to feel — and this is going to sound kind of cliché — that we really are one community together, because right now I feel a lot of separation between the teams, and the dorms, and I see that divide particularly with third formers that are in their dorm for eight to twelve hours a day. That took a toll on them, with their social abilities, and they've been able to acclimate very well, but with certain expansions and an understanding that St. Paul's is about everyone doing this together, I think it'll improve certain aspects. I guess that's a very broad approach to saying what I'm trying to get at.
RM: What kind of messaging can StudCo bring to the table about campus culture, and what kind of role can StudCo play in facilitating the community that you are laying out? You can take that as specific as one thing or as broad as you want.
CA: That kind of reminds me of something that I've been looking at when I look at my vision for this position. This was actually inspired by our upcoming LinC day, so you'll see a pattern with this... It's really intertwined — the macro, meso, and micro levels. This is more of a micro level thing, looking at our culture and interpersonal relationships. One thing that I thought would be beneficial to that is the things I really missed, like the dorm competitions that we'd have. We maybe had one spirit week this year, and even the club competitions we've missed. That kind of fun is missing, and a lot of the little things. I'm super excited about Fiske Cup, but those things that bring us all together aren't there. Part of that is because we're missing Chapel, and missing those kinds of events, and so I think implementing activities that can really bring us together would be helpful...on smaller scales.
RM: Do you think those small scale things really make a big difference?
CA: That's a great question.
[Laughing]
CA: On smaller scales, in the "I-get-to-know-you" and "you-get-to-know-me" kind of way, I do believe that will help, and I do believe that I form friendships and relationships in that way just being exposed to those people. On larger scales, we need to look at our DEI commitments, and make this a much more inclusive space. I know that's been something that I've been working super hard on with the LinC team, in order to get every community member on the same page. I don't know how much the Student Council Officers have a say in things like when this interfaith space that we've been talking about for a while gets put in place, or how involved the community is, and what the community's value of affinity spaces is, and how we perceive those, and what role allies play in that as well. So in terms of improving culture, I think that really relies on our DEI commitments in our LinC curriculum. I know that as an SFO, you're not going to dive right into the LinC curriculum — that's what our LinC leaders are for and what our Deans are for. But I do think they need to put the emphasis on LinC being a foundational part of our school.
RM: I want to move to that actually, because as I noted here, you are LinC leader, and you brought that up well before I did, so why not talk about that? What has that experience been like for you? I asked this to Annette too, because she is also a LinC leader: How do you think that has prepared you to be able to potentially step into the role of Sixth Form Officer?
CA: I think what I've learned from being a LinC leader is that sometimes things need to be heard more than once. By that, I mean we've been working really hard for our race LinC day, and on things we wish could have gone a million times better our first run, the first time through. Sometimes when we ask for help, we get help, but it's not the help that we wanted, or the help that we needed. So being really specific in what we're asking from them — that's one thing. I also had a lot of different difficult conversations with certain LinC team administrators, or people that run the LinC team, and I've sat down and then asked questions. And when they don't know the answer it's really hard, but having them call someone on the spot right there has been able to solve those issues. I know that's kind of a vague description of one example, but making sure we're on the same page, having that communication with the teachers, and also being specific in what we ask for are two skills that will bring a lot to the job.
RM: I want to have a little more about communication, but unfortunately we're running out of time, so I'll give you the last question. I like to end on a nice, light note: Do you have a favorite term at St. Paul's, and if so, why?
CA: I think winter term...used to be my favorite.
[Laughing]
CA: I think what that comes from is that Fiske Cup is one of my favorite traditions. My third form year, I loved going to plays and being in other peoples dorms, and interacting with people I don't usually. And then the next year following that, I was able to participate in it myself. Just seeing people skate on the pond, getting to go to games, which I guess is every term, but there's something about the hockey games just being such a quintessential St. Paul's thing that is really special. Now I would have to say fall term, just because it's a clean slate, and everybody is so eager to do something new, meet new people, and there's a lot of optimism at the beginning of the year.
RM: Alright. Well, Chloe, I think we are good. Our time is up, but thank you very much for being here. And good luck!
CA: Thank you, Ryan.
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