The WordsWorth Studio has been moved from Van Meter Hall to Room 3 in the Main Building, the designated prayer room for Muslim students, to accommodate the Business Office following its relocation to Van Meter Hall in preparation for the Thrive Center.
The WordsWorth Studio’s new location in Room 3, a small classroom in the basement, has been serving as the prayer space for Muslim students this year, raising concerns about how the two spaces can coexist.
Dr. Jen Mosher, a Muslim teacher who advises the Muslim Student Union (MSU) and students who use the prayer space, expressed her opinion on this change.
“It’s a little bit unfortunate,” she said, “It was really nice having a space that no one else was using because it made it really easy for students to fit their prayer into their schedule and know that they could have a place to go that was convenient and had lots of room. So, sharing it brings up some issues with accessibility and scheduling that we didn’t have before.”
“In one of our old spaces [the Health Room], it was also a shared space, and it made it unsuccessful because kids only had a limited amount of time to pray in their schedules, and they would have to worry about the door being locked and getting a key. It was unfair,” said Mosher.
She worries that the same issue will arise with sharing the space with WordsWorth because of all their technological equipment, which may require the door to stay locked, creating an accessibility issue.
Diana Day, advisor of WordsWorth, has been working to move the studio into its new space while ensuring that students who use the room for prayer are still able to do so comfortably.
Day said that, immediately after she was informed of the move, she realized that it would be shared with the prayer space. She reached out to Mosher to clarify how the arrangement would work.
Day expressed that she is committed to finding solutions that prioritize students’ access to the prayer space, emphasizing that making the arrangement work is extremely important to her.
“It matters to me a lot that we work it out,” Day said.
Day also shared that she is open to moving the valuable studio equipment out of the studio when it is not in use by WordsWorth, which she believes could help make it possible for the room to remain unlocked throughout the day.
After months of preparation for a new wellness center, called the Thrive Center, the project has finally begun to move forward as of 2026. The Thrive Center will be located in the basement of Stokes Hall, where the Business Office previously was. As a result, the project started with the move of the Business Office into Van Meter Hall, the long-time home of the WordsWorth journalism studio.
According to an email from Head of School Julia de la Torre on April 11, 2025, the Thrive Center is part of the school’s long-term strategic plan to support student wellness by creating a space dedicated to academic, emotional, and wellness resources. In this message, de la Torre described the Thrive Center as “a student center that supports the academic and emotional health of students, so that they can thrive in all aspects of their lives.”
This studio move is not the first for WordsWorth; it is the third location for the WordsWorth Studio since its creation in 2015, making Day uncertain that this new space will truly be permanent.
The newest WordsWorth Studio location is currently in the process of being moved. Photos by Anjali Shah ’26.
“I don’t know if it will be permanent,” Day said. “It’s hard to adjust, to change, but I’d rather move the Studio than not have a studio.”
Despite this, Day expressed excitement for the new location, saying that she “[loves] the idea that it’s in the Main Building now,” especially because it will be easier to access, simpler to set up for Media Day, and now “gives [WordsWorth] the chance to show off [its] special space for admissions tours.”
The multifunctionality of the new studio has required communication between Day and other faculty and students to avoid potential challenges, particularly for Muslim students who use the room to pray.
Mosher, despite her worries, expressed gratitude for the effort made by the administration to communicate the change to her, especially with Ramadan approaching.
“I really appreciate that I was told about this change pretty quickly. I appreciate the administration and Ms. Day being on the ball about that because it gives us time to figure out how to make it work between all of us before Ramadan starts, which is when students are really going to start using the prayer room even more,” she said.
Mosher noted that the collaboration between herself, Day, and Chanelle Walker, Director of Diversity, Community & Belonging, to consider the needs of MSU has been helpful.
“With three people worried, it gives us a better chance that things will get done, so having a more welcoming space will be really nice,” said Mosher.
Berra Deryal ’26, co-facilitator of MSU, shared her perspective on the move, saying that while the setup is not ideal, the communication has made the transition much easier.
“Ms. Day has been very communicative throughout the whole process, so I really appreciate that,” Deryal said. “Currently, not everything for WordsWorth is set up, so some things are in the middle of the floor. As long as they’re more on the sides, it doesn’t really obstruct us. But right now it’s difficult for us to pray altogether because we’re in rows of three, and we plan to pray together for Friday prayers, especially during Ramadan. So, as long as the items are more around the corners of the room, it should be fine.”
