1 DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION QUARTERLY REPORT I APRIL - JUNE 2022
A life of high purpose means giving at least as much as we receive, loving at least as much as we hope to be loved, showing at least as much patience and kindness as we hope to be shown. It means seeking to create a world that assures all human beings the unalienable dignity that is their birthright. Inspiring the Best in Each In order to inspire the best in each, we must engage in a culture that actively rejects racism. We can achieve a more just and equitable community when we invest fully in ourselves and in those around us — and when we expect the same in return.
Statements of Belief Equity, inclusion, and human dignity are at the heart of the community we aspire to be.
A life of integrity is an ethical life — a commitment to stand up for what’s right and just — and a coherent life — a commitment to be the same best version of ourselves in all settings and in our treatment of all people.
The Lawrenceville School continued to make important strides toward the commitments outlined in the School’s DEI strategic plan, Belonging. Building. Becoming , released in June 2021. This report reflects initiatives from April-June 2022 in the following areas: Curriculum and Education, Communication, and Professional Development and Community Awareness.
A Life of High Purpose
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We therefore commit to the following beliefs fundamental to our Mission: A Life of Learning
A Life of Integrity
A community diverse in identities, experiences, and perspectives leads to a life of learning, when each of us is willing to listen, to reflect, and to work toward developing richer understandings of ourselves and of the world around us.
BECOMING.
Professional Development and Community Awareness Create training opportunities and DEI awareness programs for all community members. Note: Due to the needs of our campus community in the wake of the tragic loss of a student’s life, we shifted much of our programming to focus on student and community well-being and respond directly to the needs of the moment.
Students continued to meet during the spring term to engage in thoughtful discussions on the theme of politics. This included an event that featured a panel of students possessing diverse political commitments who engaged each other in a discourse on their respective values.
DevelopCommunicationstrategictouchpoints
International Night
with students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni through multiple communication platforms in an effort to both educate and inform.
Let’s Talk About It (Politics)
The Office of Multicultural Affairs hosted a celebration of the diverse cultures and ethnicities that are represented on our campus. Students gathered to share and to watch dance and musical performances. H
Great schools are aspirational and transformational. Our teachers nurture and cultivate learners who are reflective and curious, open to new ideas, and hungry for lifelong growth. The educational experiences we design invite community members to work collaboratively across a broad range of cultural traditions and identities in a spirit of mutual respect, humility, and expanded understanding. Having lived in and helped shape a community built on this respect and understanding, our graduates take the faith and belief in this possibility out into the world as agents of positive change and, with their confident voices and principled minds, confront the important challenges of their time.
Continued
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The Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, along with the Director of Equity and Inclusion and the Executive Director of the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice, attended an event for alumni affinity groups during Alumni Weekend. This was an opportunity to meet and interact with engaged alumni, discuss DEI initiatives, and hear their reflections on changes in the community since their time as students.
Pride Week
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Professional Development and Community Awareness
Community Day
Affinity Listening
In the wake of the racially motivated shooting in Buffalo, members of student affinity groups gathered to reflect and strengthen our community bonds.
Juneteenth Celebration and Observation Juneteenth was observed on June 17 with a School-wide holiday, educational resources from the Bunn Library, free historical texts, and a list of Juneteenth celebrations in the area.
In April, the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice hosted a mini-residency with New York Times bestselling author and social justice activist and educator Michael Patrick MacDonald, who conducted a professional development workshop with members of the English department, guest-taught two English classes, spoke at School Meeting, had lunch with students, and presented his work around storytelling and trauma in an evening program. H
Affinity Group Gathering After Buffalo Shooting
Led by the Gender Sexuality Alliance, the campus commemorated LGBTQIA+ Pride for a week in April. Events included raising the Pride flag from the School flagpole, a student-led information event on current anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation, and a Day of Silence.
Towards the end of the term, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, along with the Executive Director of the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice and the Assistant Dean of Students, gathered weekly with student members of affinity groups to listen to and reflect on music that is meaningful to each of us. Students and faculty were invited to identify a song that resonates with them. We listened to each song closely as a group and heard about why that song is meaningful to the person who chose it.
Hutchins Institute for Social Justice Mini-Residency
Continued
After working with a group of students to plan a day featuring an invited keynote speaker and community-led workshops, the Office of Multicultural Affairs responded to the campus tragedy by shifting to faculty-led events aimed at bringing peace, joy, and well-being. These events included creative projects, physical activities and games, nature walks, and a community-wide barbecue.
Hutchins Fellows in Social Justice
Please review our DEI progress dashboard to see specific areas of impact >
Professional Development and Community Awareness Brooklyn Academy of Music Trip
Hutchins Scholars in Social Justice
In April, the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice announced the first cohort of Hutchins Scholars in Social Justice – 10 students who will spend two residential weeks in June and the fall term immersing themselves in the study of social justice and developing individual projects.
In April, the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice, along with the Office of Multicultural Affairs faculty, organized and chaperoned a trip for 35 students to Brooklyn for dinner and to attend a performance of “Little Syria” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The performance blends traditional Arabic music, hip-hop, and oral history to tell the story of one of the oldest Arab neighborhoods in New York City.
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In May, the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice announced the first cohort of Hutchins Fellows in Social Justice – three faculty members who will receive support during the academic year to develop public-facing scholarship around a social justice theme.
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