RE Log Spring 2019

SPRING 2019 Ransom Everglades LOG 17 Donna Zheng ’19 Students have to learn how to talk about sensitive topics ... and engage in conversations about different aspects of diversity. S ix Ransom Everglades students, four faculty members, three trustees and Head of School Penny Townsend flew to Nashville for the People of Color Conference in November 2018. RE has been attending this National Association of Independent Schools con- ference for more than a decade, and this year joined more than 1,500 students and thousands of adults nationwide for five days of conversation, reflection and education. The RE student-attendees returned to campus excited – Emma Fraser ’20 described her participation in the associated Student Diversity Leadership Conference as “one of the best times of my life.” Students also came back empowered, determined to amplify the school’s 18-month-old diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiative. The board-led initiative has helped channel longtime interest in DEI at Ransom Everglades into strategic action at a time many of RE’s peer schools are also getting to work. “We are gaining momentum, and our entire community – our students, faculty, administration and trustees – is engaged,” said trustee Elana Oberstein-Harris ’93 , who attended the conference and is the vice-chair of the board of trustees’ Student Life and Inclusion Committee. Elizabeth Barash Murphy, the committee chair, said trustees have reflected on how DEI work dovetails with the school’s mission to promote students’ “sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life.” “It means looking at the core of our identity,” she said. “By default, it can make us uncomfortable, but learning to ap- preciate others for who they are and the perspectives they bring creates the ideal academic environment in which to grow.” Since the fall of 2017, well-known DEI consultant Steven Jones has, at the board’s behest, shared his expertise and pro- vided training separately to faculty, administrators and trustees during multiple visits to campus. Jones maintains that DEI requires not merely big hearts and good intentions but also learned skills, hard work and intentionality. He concluded in a recent report that “RE is at a critical point to get DEI right.” The ultimate challenge, Barash Murphy said, is to ensure that students are comfortable being themselves when they arrive to school each morning, and feel a sense of belonging on campus. Trustees have twice this winter invited the students who attended the Nashville conference to share their experiences. Barash Murphy said the board is grateful for the students’ insights and passion. “Our students have been born into this,” she said. “They are the ones that need to navigate the world. They have taught us so much.” “I believe my responsibility as a student invested in this issue is making sure ‘this issue’ is still being addressed long after I’m gone,” said Viviana Freyer ’20 , who attended the conference, “and that real and effective change will be implement- ed into the Ransom Everglades community.” As this issue went to press, RE administrators were actively searching for a person to fill a new Director of Diversity and Inclusion position. Board members credit school administra- tors and faculty members such as Joshua Stone, the chair of the English Department, for laying a foundation for the current initiative through years of resourcefulness: RE’s Student Diversity Council and the school’s participation in the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) date back more than a decade. Barash Murphy, a trustee since 2006 who did under- graduate studies at Harvard and graduate work at Stanford, said her interest in DEI was sparked after her son Teddy Murphy ’14 at- tended the Student Diversity Leadership Conference seven years ago. “It was as though he had been struck by lightning,” she said. “It was a truly transformative process. It was a dinner table conversation for weeks. It permeated everything.” When Barash Murphy traveled to the conference for the first time in 2013, she was surprised: she failed to encounter a sin- gle trustee from any other school. This year’s event, in contrast, attracted dozens of trustees – including RE’s Barash Murphy, Oberstein-Harris and Jeffrey Miller ’79 – and included a separate education track for board members. The massive growth in a mere five years, Barash Murphy said, illustrates the speed at which the issue is evolving, and how important it is to continue learning. Diego Duckenfield ’20 The school should prepare students for life in general and part of this is incorporating discussion of issues like diversity into the curriculum. RE’s Student Diversity Council inspired Upper School students to make collages connected to this quote from Cornel West.