Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith ’94 is the featured guest for this year’s Spirit and Health annual speaker series, from Jan. 22 – 26. A clinical psychologist, Briscoe-Smith specializes in trauma and ethnic minority mental health. She is the Diversity Lead for Student Life at the University of Washington and a consultant and trainer for schools, including Punahou.
She is speaking in Chapel to students grades 6 – 12, with faculty, staff and current families also invited. Her inspiring presentation centered on inclusivity and creating a welcoming environment for all members of a diverse community. The message aligned with the Chapel theme for the school year, “Ulana i ka Piko,” and honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s hope to create a beloved community that accepts people’s differences.
The idea of a beloved community comes from Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
Sometimes this gets taken as a shorthand version of, ‘we have to get along all of the time.’ But King talks about the importance of using nonviolent language, because we are actually continually in conflict.
So, it’s important for us to see each other for our differences and be hospitable to each other for those differences.
Allison Briscoe-Smith ’94
The Spirit and Health Speaker is supported by the Dr. Raymond Fah and Estelle Kan Kong Endowed Fund.