Ancient Census: Who are we? Miss Porter’s School 44
In the spring of 2022, the Miss Porter’s School Office of Alumnae and Development (A&D) conducted in partnership with The Inclusion Firm a census survey that asked Ancients to share their demographic and identity information. More than 1,700 Ancients from a wide range of class years responded. “In 2019, Miss Porter’s School adopted a community call to action that committed us to building a school community rooted in the inherent worth and dignity of each member,” said Chief Advancement Officer Christine Pina. “With the knowledge we gained from this census, we can better support the lived experience of our graduates and be more inclusive of and welcoming to Ancients of all identities and backgrounds.” While we achieved an impressive 33.5 percent response rate, the census will remain open indefinitely with the hope that we continue to capture responses and more fully represent our Ancient community. Our long-term goals are to ensure the census can be used to identify trends and make inferences about the Ancient population. Diversity among Ancient respondents has notably increased across various measures, particularly in the past five decades. Significant growth is evident in people of color and LGBTQ+ identification, particularly since the 1980s. Notable increases include tripled counts of Black and/or African American respondents from the 1980s to the 2000s, as well as tripled counts of Asian and/or Asian American respondents. While the number of Latine Ancients more than tripled from the 1970s to the 1990s, it dipped in the 2000s and 2010s. The number of American Indian or Alaska
