An Instagram photo allegedly led the country’s most expensive boarding school to strip its first black female student body president of her role.
Chris Ritter
One day last March, Lawrenceville School Student Body President Maya Peterson donned L.L. Bean boots and a Yale University sweater to pose for an Instagram photo depicting what she described as a typical "Lawrenceville boi": white, Republican, and cockily holding a hockey stick.
Peterson, who graduated in June, added hashtags like "#romney2016," "#confederate," and "#peakedinhighschool" before posting. It was a joke, she said, inspired by classmates who complained to the school's dean of students about Peterson's own senior photo, in which she and 10 friends, all black, raised their fists in a "Black Power" salute. But not everyone thought it was funny.
"You're the student body president, and you're mocking and blatantly insulting a large group of the school's male population," one student commented on the photo.
"Yes, I am making a mockery of the right-wing, confederate-flag hanging, openly misogynistic Lawrentians," Peterson responded. "If that's a large portion of the school's male population, then I think the issue is not with my bringing attention to it in a lighthearted way, but rather why no one has brought attention to it before…"
Three weeks later, the administration told Peterson she would face disciplinary action unless she resigned from her post as student body president, she said. Peterson was the first black woman to serve in that role at The Lawrenceville School, a prestigious boarding school near Princeton, N.J., that costs around $53,000 a year to attend, making it the most expensive high school in the country.
A critical mass of faculty members and students believed "it was not fitting of a student leader to make comments mocking members of the community," Dean of Students Nancy Thomas told the Lawrenceville student paper. But the photo was simply the last straw for many white students who never wanted Peterson to be president in the first place — and for Peterson herself, who said she was sick of fighting vicious attacks from the most privileged members of the elite school.
Chris Ritter
The Lawrenceville School, founded in 1810, first admitted black students just 50 years ago. Female students weren't allowed to enroll until 1987, a change that led 50 students to shout "Better Dead Than Coed" in protest, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer ("We were told they'd be so much smarter. They're morons, most of them," one senior boy elaborated). Notable Lawrenceville alumni include famous CEOs (Michael Eisner, Lewis Bernard), state senators, and the founder of Forbes magazine.
Peterson, a tall, animated 17-year-old with flowing dreads and thick-rimmed glasses who ran on a platform of "inclusion and acceptance and pride in oneself," wasn't just the first black woman to serve as student body president — she's an out lesbian too. She won the election by reaching out to students whom other candidates overlooked, including freshmen and minorities, other students said.
"The younger kids told me they felt comfortable opening up to me in a way they didn't with other people," Peterson said.
Chris, a 2014 graduate whose education was funded by a program called Oliver Scholars, a program for New York City students of African and Latino descent, said Peterson won because "she really cares about people and their best interests." To Chris, a transgender student, Peterson "came off as somebody who would advocate for us."
One of Peterson's first acts as president was to institute a "diversity representative" on the student council board to eliminate tension on campus when talking about race and gender issues. But her diversity initiatives were not widely welcomed; a push for gender neutral bathrooms was particularly controversial. And Peterson herself was viewed with suspicion by a significant number of students, mostly white and male, who opposed her candidacy from the start. Some even thought the school had rigged the election so that a woman would win; only two women served as student body president before Peterson.
"There was outcry for Lawrenceville to release the voting data for her presidency, because popular opinion was that she was not actually elected," said David, a 2014 graduate. "I'd still like to see those numbers, is all I'm saying." (The numbers were, in fact, released.)
The backlash to her election led to personal attacks. Shortly after Peterson was elected, an anonymous student sent the dean of students photos of Peterson using marijuana. Soon after, the school received more anonymous information that alleged Peterson had posted racist tweets about a Sikh student. In a school-wide meeting, Peterson apologized for the photos and the dean of students clarified that the racist tweets were fabricated. Still, many students believed she wasn't right for the position.
"There was too much controversy around Maya," said Rob, a rising senior. "We didn't really want a president who breaks school rules. It isn't a representation of who we are."
Peterson was frustrated that the school didn't investigate her anonymous attackers, even after another scary incident in the winter, when someone sent an email to the freshman class containing photos of Peterson half naked in her room. Peterson had no idea where the sender had gotten those photos, she said, and the administration, while sympathetic, didn't either — or didn't tell her if they did.
By spring, Peterson was sick of feeling unsupported, and the complaints about the "Black Power" yearbook photo set her off.
"I understand why I hurt people's feelings, but I didn't become president to make sure rich white guys had more representation on campus," she said. "Let's be honest. They're not the ones that feel uncomfortable here."
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