WASHINGTON, DC (WXIX) — A Turpin High School student testified before a congressional subcommittee Thursday during a hearing examining political attacks on free speech and classroom censorship.

Clair Mengel’s testimony comes amid ongoing protests by students at Turpin High School over the Forest Hills School Board’s decision to cancel the school’s annual racial diversity awareness day. Hundreds of students staged a walkout Wednesday morning and dozens appeared at a board meeting Wednesday night.

The Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties hearing examined “ongoing efforts to ban discussions in K-12 classrooms about American history, race, and LGBTQ+ issues, and to punish teachers who violate vague and discriminatory state laws by discussing these topics,” according to a statement from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) who chairs the subcommittee.

This is the second in a series of hearings entitled “Free Speech Under Attack”.

Mengel was among three students to testify, with the others hailing from Michigan and Texas. The high school student spoke specifically about the impact of the cancellation of Diversity Day on the mental health and education of Mengel’s classmates.

“Most importantly, students of color are being told by the highest authorities in their district that their stories don’t deserve to take up school time, school grounds, or school resources,” Mengel said. “I bring up mental health to remind you that this issue is in many cases and in many ways life and death.”

The Forest Hills School Board originally rescheduled its Diversity Day from March 31 to Wednesday so parents could receive the agenda, speaker list and sign permission forms for their children to attend. Then the board postponed it indefinitely stipulating that the event could not use school resources or occur during school hours.

Says Mengel, “Our school board told us that the permission slips sent to parents were not complete enough, so the event had to be postponed. Students could immediately tell that their problem was not with the permission slips. Concerned board members had campaigned on anti-CRT policies and were using the CRT as a scapegoat to quash an open discussion about diversity.

Racial Diversity Awareness Day had been held on a voluntary basis every year since at least 2017. It typically included a series of activities, discussions, video clips and breakout sessions with guest speakers that focused on history, the criminal justice system and empathy, according to the authorization slip for the event.

Following the cancellation of the 2022 event, Mengel and Mengel’s classmates started a GoFundMe that raised over $13,000 to host their own Diversity Day on May 18 at Heritage Church.

FOX19 has reached out to the Forest Hill School District for comment. We have not heard back at the time of this writing.

School board member Leslie Rasmussen issued the following statement Thursday evening:

“I can only speak for myself, but it’s amazing that Claire and her colleagues have become heroes and inspired those here and across the country. Claire’s testimony was powerful and truthful. I am so grateful that they were able to speak their truth and tell their story to Congress.

Rasmussen is the only Forest Hills school board member in favor of Diversity Day.

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