Masters clubs provide an outlet for all students within various groups to voice opinions, issues, and concerns–but what happens when someone falls under more than one of these categories or none at all? Among the School’s newest clubs, Mixd Club was founded in order to educate the Masters community about what it means to be mixed, and how to approach issues among the school and beyond to ensure that everyone finds a place where they belong. The club leadership elaborates on their mission and agenda.

Being mixed is not a subject that is commonly brought up at Masters, in or out of the classroom. Perhaps this is because it is very difficult to understand, or because the mixed community is often overlooked in general. “In any government document you have to check a box and if you don’t apply to any of the boxes given, then you have to check ‘other’,” Zia Foxhall, co-president, said, thinking back to her motivation for founding the club. The Mixd Club leadership aims to eliminate this concept within the Masters School by creating a space where people can celebrate all of the components of their identity, as opposed to attending clubs in which it’s implied they can only identify with only one.

Foxhall’s goal is to provide a safe space for kids who come from mixed households. Every Phi Thursday during lunch, Mixd Club appeals to all members of the mixed community to talk about the challenges of being mixed today. In each meeting, the leadership will typically plan a presentation for the beginning portion, and then allow the group to break into discussion—at that point, all students including allies are encouraged to share their perspectives on certain issues pertaining to the mixed community, and ask questions. “The only way to educate someone is to share your experiences,” Foxhall added.

The Mixd Club leadership actively pursues the education aspect of their mission in each of their meetings. “When you say someone is mixed you’re referring to someone who has two parents of two different races, and is raised in a household with two different cultures.” She said this also encompasses people who “feel a sense of mixture”, whether it’s from moving from place to place, experiencing multiple cultures, or being adopted. The group also incorporates education within their presentations at the beginning of each meeting. “At the last meeting we showed a video about what it’s like for certain people to be mixed race in America,” Foxhall said. Although these terms can be difficult to define, members are encouraged to reflect upon their own lives and provide insight.

Why should anyone have to choose which part of themselves they identify the most with? Mixd Club allows students to completely acknowledge their identity as a whole. Secretary Madison Burton offers her perspective about the importance of Mixd Club on the Masters campus. “Having a space where it’s not just for one race, like Onyx or DESI, is really important, at least to me and a lot of the other members,” she said.

Although Mixd Club has only been around for a couple of months, the leadership is currently discussing their plans for the future. They intend to open roundtable discussions to the entire school so that everyone has a chance to learn about the meaning of being mixed and listen to their peers’ personal encounters with identity crises. “I just want people to understand that I am not one or the other,” Foxhall said, “I am both, and I shouldn’t have to only identify as what I look like.”