RL Hosts DACA Seminar for RL & Winsor Seniors

Rachel Casseus, Esq. (foreground) gave a presentation on DACA.
Students shared their small-group discussion highlights.

On Sunday, 19 November, 32 senior girls from The Winsor School joined 46 Class I boys at Roxbury Latin for a different kind of sister school mixer: a joint seminar on DACA—the “Dreamer” legislation.

 

The afternoon began with a presentation on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by immigration law attorney Rachel Casseus (Winsor Class of 2002). Deeply knowledgeable about DACA, Ms. Casseus outlined its history and the current Administration’s efforts to end DACA, and shared her insights on how all of this is impacting the “Dreamers” who are at the heart of DACA. After a Q&A, students broke into groups, each with a faculty facilitator, to discuss the topic. They were guided by several discussion questions and tasked with finding a more permanent solution and drafting new legislation for Congress, after which the students reconvened to share their results. The evening concluded with dinner in the Refectory.

 

The heads of both schools attended. Julian Braxton joined Winsor head Sarah Pelmas, and RL faculty members Elizabeth Carroll, Stewart Thomsen, Andrew Kinglsey, Kyle Layne-Allen, and Mike Pojman served as facilitators along with Headmaster Kerry Brennan. Mr. Brennan originally approached Ms. Carroll—herself a Winsor board member and alumna—with the idea for the seminar. “I wanted to explore other ways for students of the two schools to interact,” said Mr. Brennan. “By centering the event around an issue of civic import, something that taps into students’ intellectual curiosity and horsepower, we can broaden the kinds of joint engagement we offer to RL boys and Winsor girls.”

 

The two schools anticipate coordinating a similar event in the spring.