Kayla L. ’26
Live Music Afficiando: In his free time, Vaughan enjoys attending concerts, and his favorite artist is Illenium.
Q: You’ve worked in education and youth support for a very long time and across many different contexts. What principles have guided you throughout your career?
A: My philosophy of education is that, when I work with young people, I want to be my most authentic self, because I want students to learn to love themselves. I think that’s really hard to do when they’re at this age, when they’re just doing their best to literally survive every day, have a giant homework load, and the Western world says you need to know at 17 what you want to do for a career. Also, I grew up with a distance from adults around me, which kept me from really getting to know them. Had I seen adults who were showing up as themselves more authentically, I think it would have encouraged me to do so more, too.
Q: While you were a youth minister with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, what did you do?
A: The Jesuit Volunteer Corps is a program which places Jesuit volunteers in communities all over the country. I did middle school and high school ministry for a group of Catholic parishes in Portland, Maine, and I lived with five other Jesuit volunteers. Together, we were dedicated to JVC’s four tenets of community, simplicity, social justice, and spirituality. I built community with the people I served, but also the people that I lived with. The job pays just enough for you to live, like rent and food. The Jesuits order specifically focuses on advocating for the most marginalized and being in solidarity with the people who need it most. Finally, my house had weekly spirituality nights, where we might discuss how the lyrics of a music album made us feel connected to the universe.
Q: You clearly care so much about supporting young people. In what ways did you and did you not receive that support growing up?
A: My dad’s white, my mom’s Puerto Rican, and they have very different upbringings. They definitely took good care of me growing up, but I didn’t grow up having a lot of mixed friends. I have been the butt of a lot of jokes over the years, like not being white enough or not Latino enough. So, it’s really cool that there are so many people that are mixed or are third culture kids here at Nueva. Also, I had no openly queer teachers. At my high school of 2,400 students, there were three out kids. Not having any queer role models was hard, and it took me a while to figure out this part of my identity until after I moved to San Francisco, where I joined groups like the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, and I found people who are very supportive of me.
Q: What has been your favorite place to live, as someone who has lived in places all around the country?
A: It has to be San Francisco! The city is fun and beautiful. The culture is encouraging of people to explore yourself, not take yourself too seriously, and pursue your passions. In the SEL class I’m teaching now, we’re talking a lot about how confirmation bias makes it hard to break out of a role that either you have chosen or been put into. I think that San Francisco isn’t a place where, just because you were part of a community once, that is now your identity. Instead, it is a place where you are encouraged to have your identity always be shifting and changing.
Q: What are some long-term goals you have for E&I Work at the Upper School in the future?
A: I’m invested in this community, and I want it to thrive. Especially when Nueva is different from other schools, and this is a place full of dynamic thinkers and gifted people, I want it to be the best it can be. We are very capable of pushing against the status quo and of moving things forward, and we are coming from a variety of privileged backgrounds. So, I really want to challenge us to ask, what are we doing with that privilege?
Q: There are numerous social justice topics that are really on the forefront of students’ minds right now. Do you have a message you might share with concerned, energized, or paralyzed students as our school’s E&I Coordinator?
A: I know that this year has been tough in a lot of ways, and I would encourage students to continue to speak up and ask questions. We are a learning environment trying to teach students how to be independent humans and a force for good. I am here to support students’ voices being heard, and I hope every student knows that they would never be silenced with me. I am here to encourage everyone and to bring people together.