A small group of Stanford students and community leaders in education gathered Thursday at the Haas Center for Public Service to encourage student-led systemic change in the Bay Area education system.
The event, titled “Connecting the Dots: Pizza, Partnerships, and Systemic Change in Education,” called for students to actively engage in hands-on community services and initiate partnerships between the educational organizations they belong to and others in the Bay Area community.
Around 10 community members met to hear from John Harrington, an AmeriCorps VISTA member at the Thrive Alliance in San Mateo County, and Rubie Macaraeg, the coordinator for Expanded Learning and Community Partnerships at the San Mateo County Office of Education.
“It’s really a matter of bringing them together, bringing them into conversation with each other, and realizing where individual initiatives can overlap with others,” Harrington said.
According to Harrington, San Mateo County is home to over 180 education-related nonprofits representing over seven $60 billion in revenue, indicating that the “resources are definitely there” to address systemic educational inequity.
Taylor Hall ’25, the Issue Area Coordinator for Education at the Haas Center, said she was inspired to reflect upon what past generations have done to fight inequity.
“A lot of what [my elders] have done is build their own systems, create their own partnerships and create their own things to help their community when the government would not,” Hall said.
The U.S. Department of Education released a letter last month warning that educational institutions, including Stanford, that failed to cease race-conscious practices in admissions, hiring and campus life within two weeks could face a loss of federal funding. President Donald Trump is imminently expected to attempt to abolish the Department of Education through an executive order.
Attendee Princess Awambu ’28 stressed the importance of raising awareness of educational inequity, highlighting “that there’s people who are working to overcome [educational] challenges” and that individuals are “not laying down in the dirt” in the face of systemic issues with education
“Stanford has the brain power to learn how to fix these different barriers, from transportation or economic to mental health and everything that blocks students from reaching their potential in areas around our school,” Awambu said.
Systemic issues, such as mental health challenges, are “not felt equally,” especially for marginalized students, Harrington added. In particular, he said those belonging to Black, Pacific Islander and LGBTQ communities disproportionately report feelings of depression.
San Mateo County has a higher portion of mental health providers per capita compared to the state average but still falls short of the necessary amount, particularly in schools and for students who don’t speak English, Harrington said.
Hall said that “a lot” of Stanford students care about educational inequity but must “put their care into action” by investing their time in “direct service work,” such as mentoring high school students in East Palo Alto.
“[Stanford students] have the power to change things, and I think coming together is how we really get it done,” Awambu said.