Bringing a unique perspective to the conversation around diversity

This year saw the return of Dr. Aleesha Grier-Rogers ’90 to campus as Cheshire Academy’s first diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator. Her goals for this inaugural year of the position were “to help increase awareness of the extraordinary diversity that has been a part of Cheshire Academy’s history, and to foster a campus environment where everyone feels safe, accepted, and respected enough to embrace their identities and voice their perspectives. With that, I also hope to spur discussions around opportunities for increased understanding, support, and training.”

Grier-Rogers is a licensed clinical psychologist, having earned both a master’s and a doctorate degree in clinical psychology from the University of Hartford Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology. She completed her predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships at the Yale School of Medicine, where she has served since 2009 as an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry in the Division of Addictions. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the Psychology Department at Southern Connecticut State University. Prior to joining the faculty at Cheshire Academy, Grier-Rogers most recently served for nearly a decade as a behavioral health program director at Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center—an integrated healthcare facility in New Haven, Connecticut, that focuses on providing care to clients from underserved and underrepresented populations.

When I was here, there were only 14 flags hanging in the Gideon Welles Dining Commons; today, there are over 50. That’s a tangible reminder of how diversity is increasing on campus.

Reflecting on how CA’s view on diversity, equity, and inclusion has changed since Grier-Rogers’ graduation, she says, “There was no campuswide effort at that time to increase awareness of or discuss issues related to our personal identities. My recollection is that, at that time, the campus culture was focused more on interconnectedness, and learning to coexist despite our differences. That type of push was certainly not unique to CA.”

Grier-Rogers sees Cheshire today as not only much more diverse, but also more open to recognizing and celebrating individual identities. “When I was here, there were only 14 flags hanging in the Gideon Welles Dining Commons; today, there are over 50. That’s a tangible reminder of how diversity is increasing on campus. Similarly, the numerous affinity groups on campus are a sign of students wanting a space to express and discuss their various identities.”

Grier-Rogers is the faculty advisor to one such affinity group: the Black Student Union. Of the group, she says, “The BSU itself is amazingly diverse. Members include students who identify as African, Afro-Caribbean, African American, Afro-Asian, and multiracial. Part of the group’s goal is to push awareness that the term ‘black’ refers to a wide array of different cultures with unique identities.”

Another important change in the diversity of the school that Grier-Rogers noticed right away was that “there are a lot more girls enrolled than when I was a student, and that’s terrific to see.”

One of the things she was most excited about this year was planning the annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, held on Jan. 20. As a senior in 1990, Grier-Rogers was part of a student led sit-in protesting the school’s lack of recognition of this holiday. Looking back on her senior year, Grier-Rogers reflects, “At the time, I was only able to recognize how that day changed me personally and brought the students together, but I didn’t think about how that day changed the school. Being on campus now, I can see the impact of the momentum we created 30 years ago, and I’m honored to take up that torch again.”