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Ipswich student honored for essay on personal prejudice experience

By Joe O'Connell
Correspondent
Published: June 24, 2008

IPSWICH — Like many people, Henry Clay has experienced prejudice and hatred in his life.

His experience happened in seventh grade, when he heard homophobic remarks around school. And like most seventh-graders, Clay, who is straight, didn't say or do anything to stop it.

That moment was the subject of an essay Clay wrote for a recent contest, and the end result was the opportunity of a lifetime.

He submitted the essay as part of the third annual "Au Revoir Les Enfants" essay contest. It was held by the Consulate General of France in Boston and the Anti-Defamation League New England region, and the recent Ipswich High grad was named one of three winners.

"I was pretty surprised," said Clay, 18, who will be attending New York University in the fall.

Participating students were first asked to watch a 1987 movie, "Au Revoir Les Enfants," which is French for "Goodbye, Children." The movie centers around a French boarding school that is hiding Jewish boys from Nazi persecution during the Holocaust.

Students then wrote an essay, describing their own experience with prejudice.

For being named one of the winners, Clay was invited to an award ceremony last Friday in Boston, aboard the French ship Le Belem. Said to be the oldest European tall ship still at sea, Le Belem made a three-day trip along the coast of Massachusetts before docking in Boston Harbor for the ceremony.

Clay received a medal from the French Consulate, a tour of the ship and also a trip to Washington, D.C., to tour the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, offered by the ADL. Clay's essay was also posted on the French Consulate Web site.

"That was really powerful," Clay said of the museum. "It's just a powerful museum."

Both the president of Le Belem Foundation Eric Gavoty, who greeted the winners when they boarded, and the captain of the ship made speeches during the ceremony. Also taking part in the award ceremony were the French Consulate General Francois Gauthier, Cultural Attaché Brigitte Bouvier and Myriam Zuber of the ADL.

Clay's French teacher was the who one encouraged Clay and all his classmates to enter the contest. Prejudice was a topic of much discussion in the class during the year, something Clay didn't expect.

"We talked so much about the Holocaust," he said.

Eleven schools took part in the contest, and 170 students submitted an essay. That is an increase from just six schools that participated in the contest last year.

"I would loved if we lived in a world without hatred," Clay said. "That would be just wonderful."

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