News Detail
Human rights advocate talks ethics with upper school students
Human rights advocate Mike Ishii discussed human solidarity and ethical responsibility with Ransom Everglades students on March 12, sharing his family's story of displacement to a Japanese American internment camp after World War II. Ishii addressed upper school students during an assembly at the Lewis Family Auditorium before participating in a "Speaking of Ethics" roundtable at the Ransom Cottage, hosted by The Holzman Center of Applied Ethics in partnership with the Japanese Culture Club.
Japanese Culture Club officers Victor de Souza '28, Joaquim Horvilleur '28 and Alex Tevelow '28 introduced Ishii, the executive director of Tsuru for Solidarity. Ishii detailed the mass incarceration of more than 125,000 Japanese Americans at 75 sites across the United States after World War II, delving into his mother's experience.
She was only 10 years old when she was pulled out of school in 1942 and sent with her family to an internment camp for four years. His grandparents, who had lived in the United States for more than 50 years, had to sell their house and all their possessions. "The measure of a society is not how it treats the powerful, but how it protects the most vulnerable," Ishii said.
She was only 10 years old when she was pulled out of school in 1942 and sent with her family to an internment camp for four years. His grandparents, who had lived in the United States for more than 50 years, had to sell their house and all their possessions. "The measure of a society is not how it treats the powerful, but how it protects the most vulnerable," Ishii said.
The lunchtime roundtable, introduced by Luisa Duarte ’27 on behalf of the Holzman Center, focused on the theme of "Solidarity and Ethical Responsibility." Ishii led students in an examination of the tensions between group loyalty and moral courage, challenging them to consider their responsibilities to those outside their own immediate communities.
"Each one of us can choose to be the voice for someone who is being unfairly targeted," Ishii said during the assembly. "The real question is: Who are you? Listen to your inner voice. Listen to your inner guide, because we must care for one another in this time."
The two events provided students the opportunity to discuss how ethical responsibility extends across borders and social differences, extending the Holzman Center's mission to help RE students explore and apply ethical decision-making in contemporary society.
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Accreditations and Memberships
FCIS | SAIS | NAIS | NACAC | SACAC | ACCIS |College Board | CSEE | INDEX | One Schoolhouse
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.
Ransom Everglades School®, The RE Way®, RE Pathways® and Bowden Fellowships in the Humanities™ are trademarks of Ransom Everglades School.
Ransom Everglades School®, The RE Way®, RE Pathways® and Bowden Fellowships in the Humanities™ are trademarks of Ransom Everglades School.