DIICE was initially scheduled for the 13th of March, the last day of in-person classes at Friends Select, before being postponed indefinitely. This change was made to allocate time for classes to meet and better prepare students for distance learning. Upper School students were united in support of the move, but they reacted differently to the announcement. 

Several people interviewed agreed that DIICE day would not have been very effective in the current situation, given the students’ COVID – 19 worries. They indicated that at this time, there were higher priorities. Senior Alexandra Shapiro said, “I think it’s the right decision because students would not have been focused and important information needed to be shared about the transition to online learning.”

Matthew D’Annunzio expressed logistical concerns, and pointed out that going ahead with a central component of DIICE would not have been wise given advice from doctors. He said, “Having students mass congregate like we would have would not have been a good idea.” 

Twelfth grader Kaiyuan Chen was in full support of the decision, albeit for completely different reasons. He expressed his strong belief that the school focused too much on diversity related activities. In his words, “It may be better for people to forget about the difference and just have fun with each other no matter who they are and where they are from. So I am happy it’s canceled.”

Junior Taariq Mbaraka summarized the collective response: “I feel as though it was not ideal but was the best option considering the position we were put in.”

It has not yet been announced whether the plans for this year’s DIICE day will run in the 2020-21 school year.