"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
Annual Day of Concern Explores Reproductive Rights and Healthcare Access for All
Friends Seminary’s annual Day of Concern is a cornerstone event that fosters deep engagement with pressing social justice issues. This year’s theme, Reproductive Rights, Justice, and Healthcare Access for All, was selected by students, underscoring their commitment to ensuring that all individuals—regardless of background or circumstance—have the right to make informed choices about their bodies and well-being.
Throughout the day, students explored the complexities of reproductive justice and healthcare access through a series of panels, workshops, affinity spaces, and Meeting for Worship. Guided by faculty and student voices, the Center for Peace, Equity, and Justice (CPEJ) developed a meaningful program designed to encourage critical thinking, deep reflection, and action.
Each year, the Upper School sets aside regular coursework to engage fully in this immersive experience. This year, student committee clerks collaborated with the CPEJ team to curate a diverse range of nineteen workshops facilitated by faculty, staff, and invited experts. Topics spanned multiple disciplines, offering perspectives through the lenses of history, art, literature, philosophy, religion, and service. Workshops ranged from “Abortion: What It Is and What It Isn’t” to a “Reproductive Justice Tech Sprint,” ensuring students engaged with the issue from varied and thought-provoking angles.
The day culminated in a Meeting for Worship, centering on student-developed queries:
- How can we take what we learned today and use it to create change?
- Was your perspective shifted or challenged today? If so, how?
Additionally, Upper School students participated in a panel discussion featuring experts and activists who explored the intersections of identity and its role in the conversation around reproductive healthcare. Moderated by Elisa ’25 and Eli ’26, the panel featured:
- Jamaal Clue, MD – Principal Medical Scientist at Gilead Sciences
- Genay Jackson – Friends Seminary parent, doula, and public health advocate with an MPH from the University of Southern California
- Alexandria Lane – Screenwriter and director
- Sophie Mraz – Policy analyst at Planned Parenthood Federation of America
- Clayton Raithel – Friends Seminary math teacher and philosophy instructor
- Aviva Zadoff – Director of Advocacy and Volunteer Engagement at the National Council of Jewish Women New York
Students submitted questions in advance, leading to a dynamic and engaging Q&A session. The event provided an opportunity for students to grapple with complex ethical, legal, and societal dimensions of reproductive justice while considering their own roles in advocating for change.
Friends Seminary’s Day of Concern 2025 was a powerful reminder of the School’s commitment to fostering informed, compassionate, and action-oriented global citizens.
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
