In a Nov. 9 email to ETHS students and staff, Superintendent Dr. Marcus Campbell and Assistant Superintendent and Principal Dr. Taya Kinzie announced the implementation of ETHS Listening Spaces for students. A Nov. 27 session will focus on Muslim/Arab students who have experienced Islamophobia, anti-Muslim or anti-Arab sentiments. A Dec. 4 session will focus on students who have experienced antisemitism or anti-Israeli sentiments.

The introduction of the Listening Spaces is ETHS’ first official attempt to open communication throughout the school about the Israel-Palestine conflict and the way it may affect Evanston residents.

“Our next step is to create different listening spaces at ETHS to hear and understand the pain and possibly the hope that we carry in our school,” read the email. “There will be staff listening spaces and student listening spaces for people who have similar experiences to connect with each other and have meaningful conversations about the dehumanizing narratives that have impacted their group.”

Campbell and Kinzie clearly express that the goal of the Listening Spaces is to garner a sense of community, not to create a divide between the students and staff who choose to attend. 

“A listening space is not intended to solicit support for a ‘cause’ or make assumptions about people with opposing views [or] prioritize the humanity of one group over another,” read the email. 

The message ends by reaffirming that the goal of the Listening Spaces is to build a stronger sense of community in the face of a conflict that could easily work to tear it apart and that the administration, “encourages [Evanston residents] to find glimmers of hope amidst the terribleness that exists abroad and near home.”

The email also noted that Listening Spaces for parents or guardians might be available in the future.