In the season of graduation when everything goes similarly each day, a new tradition has been added to the schedule for senior Asian students at Williston.
This year, the school will hold its first Asian Stoling Ceremony on May 21. Members of the Asian Alliance Club, especially senior Wakanda Hu and faculty advisor Ken Choo, worked together with the DEIB office to make the celebration possible.
At the ceremony, more than 30 Asian students will be given a stole and be able to wear them on the day of graduation. The tradition of stoling ceremonies at Williston first began in 2021, when Chamber Nikki from the DEIB office introduced a ceremony honoring Black students. Since then, the Black Student Union Stoling Ceremony has become an opportunity to celebrate community, experiences and mentorship to the students.
Inspired by that tradition, members of the Asian Alliance Club began discussing the possibility of creating a similar event for Asian students. The idea was first introduced by a few members of the Asian Alliance Club, including Wakanda Hu, a senior from Guangzhou, China. Later, other faculty members worked with the DEIB office to make this possible.
Students who chose to participate in this new tradition voted on the design of the stole. Initially, Wakanda presented two color options, red and gold. As a result of the survey, the gold was selected as the final design.
Although the ceremony may appear simple on the surface, organizers said creating a completely new tradition required a timeless effort and preparation. Wakanda said beginning a whole new tradition at an important time of the year was not an easy process, especially when trying to ensure all students felt included.
“My goal is to include everyone, if possible, to set a good precedent,” she said. “However, some students may feel hesitant or shy about participating since they have not been involved before. There isn’t an existing ‘Asian list,’ so it took time to figure out who to reach out to and gather information about who would be willing to participate.”
In addition to making the list of participants, they also had to build the event without many examples to reference from other schools. Wakanda explained that lacking such existing models allowed them to create the ceremony in their own way.
“As far as I know, there is no public example of other prep schools holding stoling ceremonies for Asian students, so there wasn’t a model to follow,” she said. “At the same time, I see this blank slate as a blessing—it gives our team the freedom to create something meaningful and decide what we want this ceremony to look like.”
For Wakanda, the ceremony is ultimately meant to encourage Asian students to recognize their identities and experiences at Williston.
“Be proud of who you are,” she said.
Participants for the Stoling Ceremony will include both domestic and international students, sharing both similar and different experiences.
Chambers said the meaning of such an event and tradition is to keep the legacy and celebrate each one of our experiences, whether that was to adapt to a new environment or to leave behind the family and friends you grew up with to come to a new country.
“I think it is really important that when you’re celebrating a community that it’s not just about struggle,” she said. “It is about what people have done to find joy and connection and community, even in those moments of struggle. I want the ceremony to be something where students can celebrate all that they’ve accomplished and all that they’ve sacrificed to get an education at Williston.”
While the ceremony acknowledges the experiences of international students, it is meant for all Asian students within the community in Williston. Many domestic students also expressed excitement about having a shared celebration celebrating their identity.
The Asian Stoling Ceremony is not just for the international students. Jaelyn Luo, a senior from Longmeadow, Mass., expresses her excitement towards this ceremony.
“I was really excited when I heard about the Asian Stoling Ceremony,” she said. “I feel like it is a great way for Asian students to come together before closing out the year, and the stoles are also nice memorabilia of our time at Williston.”
Faculty members involved in the planning process also described the ceremony as an opportunity for both students and adults on campus to learn more about the diversity of backgrounds within the Williston community. Ken Choo, an advisor for the Asian Alliance Club, worked with some students to help organize this event.
“This was an educational process for me,” he said. “I knew of the Stoling Ceremony only from the perspective of recognizing Black students and honoring their experience as they traversed Upper school here at Williston. Supporting the Asian students at this school has been gratifying, inspirational, AND educational.”
He also hopes for the greater acknowledgement of the heritages by each student through this ceremony.
“I would love it if the students came away with a greater awareness of the many ways that their peers experienced their Asian heritage: persevered through cultural shock, leveraged their cultural strengths, received and provided support, coped with their racial differences, and so on.”
