In the hallway between the cafeteria and the English department, there is a board with photos and encouraging messages. Depending on the month, there may be noteworthy people of Native American heritage, or famous figures in Asian American history. For February, Black History Month, there have been displays of prominent persons of African American heritage, like tennis star Serena Williams and President Barack Obama. 

These displays are not put together by the school or an individual, but instead by a club here at Center Grove: The Diversity and Inclusion Union.

“I think it just brings initiative to people to make them want to know more about Black history and actually take a deep dive into it, not just the surface level people that we learn about,” senior Diversity and Inclusion Union leader Indigo Morrow said. “Everyday people like Rosa Parks, everybody knows those people, but the stuff we do on the announcements is to bring light to other black figures that don’t really get recognition.” 

When putting together the boards in the hallway, or the notable figures on the announcements, the club leaders try to expand beyond already-notable figures to ones students may not have heard of before.

“It’s like people that we know of that we’ve always heard about growing up that white people may not know about or any other people may not know about,” Morrow said. “It’s just mostly things I’ve heard through older generations, like things my grandma has told me or my aunts.”

In addition to developing the hallway displays and announcements, Diversity and Inclusion Union also serves as a safe space to discuss sensitive topics and experiences for students.

“We do speech activities, we do activities where we just talk and express our feelings but in a certain way, we do bingo or stuff to get to know each other. We do different creative things like some little arts and crafts. We’re trying to expand more; that’s just what we have right now because it’s kind of still a stepping stone getting off the ground,” junior Diversity and Inclusion Union leader Royal T McGairk said. “We talk about gender equality, sex equality and race equality.”

Given Center Grove’s racial demographics, Morrow believes it is important to draw attention to minority groups at the school. 

“I think it’s important at Center Grove especially because the school is predominantly white. There’s other cultures that can be learned about, especially with instances that have happened here at Center Grove. It is really important to learn about different cultures and things like that,” Morrow said. “I would like to educate students and teachers about stereotypes and racism, like even with the blackface situation not a lot of people knew how blackface was offensive or even what it was, so just to educate people on racism and how to educate yourself and better yourself.”

For students that want to educate themselves or want a safe environment to express themselves, McGairk believes Diversity and Inclusion Union is a place meant for them.

“Anybody, if you feel like you want to learn more about diversity, come. If you feel like you feel afraid or if you feel like an outcast, I want you to come. I need you to be there. If you just feel like you want a group that will hold you up, come in, we accept everybody that accepts us,” McGairk said. “If you’re coming to actually be a part of a group that’s dignifying and trying to find their way, I want you to come. I want you to participate; we don’t judge, we don’t make fun of, we don’t hate – it’s all love and positivity in this group.”

Jack Forrest contributed to this article