\u201cNo food, no drink, and no watermelon,\u201d seventh graders from Boston\u2019s Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy reported that a staffer at Boston\u2019s Museum of Fine Arts told the more than two dozen students, all children of color, during an orientation at the beginning of their tour of the museum on May 16.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week, a number of students on an organized visit encountered a range of challenging and unacceptable experiences that made them feel unwelcome,\u201d the museum said in an \u201cOpen Letter from the MFA Leadership Team\u201d<\/a> that was posted to its website on May 22. \u201cThat is not who we are or want to be. Our intention is to set the highest of standards, and we are committed to doing the work that it will take to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a strong group of students that went, they excelled academically,” Arturo J. Forrest, the principal of the school in Boston\u2019s Fields Corner neighborhood, told The Boston Globe. \u201cThe shock of it for them was, ‘We are the top and we carry ourselves the right way as leaders.’ You know, it was very eye-opening for them. \u2026 There were many comments that made them feel unsafe throughout their time there.\u201d<\/p>\n