SSSAS, “Colloquium for the Common Good” (2022)
On January 24, 2022, St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School held the “Colloquium for the Common Good” for its high-school students. The goal of the colloquium was to be a “day of learning and deep thinking around some of the most challenging and important social issues of our day.” The colloquium included “35 dynamic workshops led by community leaders and changemakers, as well as SSSAS faculty and alumni.”
As a 2017 graduate from the school, Pugh led the workshop “All of it Matters: Bringing Identity to Writing and Journalism.” The workshop started by exploring the importance of nonfiction writing in everyday life and in college applications. Then, drawing on the work of Black journalists (like Isaac J. Bailey, Wesley Lowery, Sam Sanders, and Hanif Abdurraqib), Pugh explored contemporary disruptions into the idea of “journalistic objectivity.” The workshop ended with students practicing their own non-fiction writing, blending together journalistic rigor with personal experience.
Wesleyan University, “In the Company of Others” (2020)
Every year during freshman year orientation, Wesleyan University produces “In the Company of Others,” a collection of speeches intended to initiate new students to Wesleyan’s diverse community. With the help of other Wesleyan students and Diana Moller-Marino (Associate Professor of Theater at Hartford University), Pugh delivered “Words I Wish I Had Heard,” a ten-minute speech discusses his journey of discovery with race, family, and sexuality on Wesleyan’s campus.
The full video (recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic) can be found here.