Dudley and Kiniya friends have been finding new and creative ways to keep in touch with each other during this strange summer apart. We were inspired recently to learn of a Book Club that Eliza Davis #20108 has formed with a few of her Kiniya pals. She wrote: 

“My first summer at Kiniya was in 2006, and I have spent 11 summers at camp since then. Most of my extended family have spent summers at Dudley and at Kiniya. My Dad, Rusty Davis #9408 spent 17 summers at Dudley and my Mom, Linda Saarnijoki #19408 served on the Girls’ Committee leading to Dudley’s acquisition of Kiniya, so “The Other Fellow First” has been central to my values since I can remember. I graduated from Princeton in 2017 and subsequently spent two years teaching 7th grade Social Studies in Pueblo, Colorado through Teach For America. 

This summer, some camp folks and I have been learning about racial inequity in our country together through books, articles, and podcasts. We’re calling it a book club, but our conversations (as most conversations with camp people tend to do) extend beyond the pages we read each week. I know that reading and talking to my friends about what I learn is only one step in a long journey towards equity and justice, but it is motivating and inspiring to have thought-partners as I learn. 

Though I have been passionate about social justice for years and have spent time unpacking the privilege that I have as a straight, white woman, in the last few weeks it has become increasingly clear to me how much learning I still have to do. To be antiracist requires a constant mindset of growth from all of us. It requires a willingness to dismantle ideas that have lived in our own heads for most of our lives and reconstruct them carefully in new ways. One of the things I have always found special about camp is its ability to help me grow, so when I started thinking about ways that I can commit to learning, I turned to my Kiniya friends. 

I think we as a Dudley/Kiniya community have an incredible opportunity to connect and learn alongside one another, and I encourage you all to take advantage of that in your own way. I am so grateful to my inaugural book club pals, and can’t wait for our group to grow as we dive into our next title.”