From the Head

Inclusion

Creating a Community Where Everyone Can Thrive

By Sheila Culbert

Over the past two years, the school has undertaken two major student surveys, each of which surveyed over 650 students and had a 90 percent response rate. Together they have given the school a wealth of information on our students’ mental health, how they coped with COVID-19, and their general sense of belonging. Armed with the survey data, the school is well equipped as we look for ways to further support our students.

The first survey was administered in the spring of 2021. We asked Derrick Gay, an internationally recognized diversity and inclusion consultant, to conduct an inclusivity survey of students, faculty, and staff. He posed a series of questions designed to ascertain the sense of belonging and connectedness among community members. Dr. Gay presented a broad definition of diversity, making it clear that diversity represents and benefits us all. He noted the “Big 8 identifiers: age, ability, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background”—but also noted that other identifiers, including political or ideological viewpoint, neurodiversity (the idea that there is a range of ways of seeing and learning about the world), and resident student status (day/boarding), are also relevant at Loomis Chaffee. JED Campus, a program designed to guide schools through a collaborative process of analysis and program development to support student mental health and well-being, conducted the second survey in October of 2021.

Both surveys found several positive aspects of the school community. Students find much to appreciate, including their classmates and friends, the faculty, the academics, athletics, and the advisor system. Ninety-six percent of students are proud to be members of the Loomis community, and a similar percentage finds that the school is a supportive community and that they can find help when they need it. Eighty-five percent of students feel that Loomis is a campus where community members look out for each other. Emotional health is seen as a campus-wide topic of importance, with involvement from multiple campus offices and programs to support the well-being of students, including the advisory system, a 24-hour/seven-day-a-week Health Center, the Counseling Office, peer mentors, and student groups and activities, all of which help students connect to adults in the community and to each other. Finally, students feel a commitment to helping each other during difficult times, with 95 percent of respondents feeling a responsibility to help a friend who is struggling.

Not surprisingly, the surveys also highlighted areas of concern. These included students who feel anxious, tired, depressed, and overwhelmed. Students who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community do not feel as included in the wider school community as many of their peers, and some Asian and Asian American students, Black and Brown students, conservative students, and students from more modest socioeconomic backgrounds also face challenges at the school. Many of these students do not see themselves reflected in the curriculum, for example, or in the teaching ranks.

What stood out in both surveys is that students who identify as LGBTQIA+ feel the most isolated of all the groups. Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2012, which includes all our students and a small proportion of our faculty and staff, is recognized as the queerest generation yet, so it is not surprising that our campus demographics reflect that reality. Approximately 18 percent of Loomis students identify as LGBTQIA+, as do many members of the adult community, including faculty, staff, parents, partners, and alumni. But while we have a growing population of queer students, many of whom report very positive experiences at the school, they also note hostile behavior directed at their peers who identify as transgender and genderqueer and as lesbian, gay, and bisexual. Both surveys also identified

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