RE Log - Spring 2024

SPRING 2024 Ransom Everglades LOG 9 mentored me and taught me how to be a successful broker. He has been very generous with his time and allowed me to work on deals with him to learn.” Sullivan, a Principal of Vertical Real Estate, described the experience of hiring and then working with Singer, whom he met through other RE alumni, as “fantastic.” He added: “My friends at RE are still my best friends today and I’ve developed new relationships through work in the RE circle.” REconnecting Black alumni Cheyenne Range grew up in her own small RE circle: she loved Ransom Everglades in part because her uncle Patrick Range’95 had attended. While she was a student, she recalled, she also had an invaluable mentorship experience with Dwanita Fields ’00 , at that time an employee of Breakthrough Miami on the RE campus. After Cheyenne Range left RE for Howard University, however, the connection waned. She did not return in full force until the summer of 2020. She, Stephens, Ashley Dotson ’14, Carey Green Jr. ’11, India Huff ’11 and George Uche ’14 reunited during that time of social unrest and began reaching out to other Black alumni. They were appreciative of support they received from non-Black allies at that time, but they were also determined to make sure it was their voices that set the agenda for improving the experience at RE for Black students and other students of color. “We wanted to take ownership of that as Black alumni,” Range said. “We were the people at that time feeling the most disconnected from our institutions, we were the people feeling the social unrest, we were feeling disenfranchised …What ended up happening was a beautiful collaboration.” RE’s Black alumni and the group of allies worked together to send parallel letters to the RE administration. Not long after, Graham, the first Black student at the Ransom School and a long- REcommunity Discover the power of the time judge in Miami, was appointed to his current post, Victoria Beatty ’00 was hired as DEI Consultant to RE, and James Weaver ’90 was invited to join the school’s board of trustees. The collaboration led Range, Stephens, Dotson and other alumni to ask: what’s next? “From that there were many conversations… and where we landed as a community was saying that we need to be connected,” Range said. “The goal of reBa, as we called it – the Ransom Everglades Black Alumni – was to connect all Black alumni, regardless of their given experience on campus, whatever challenges they may have had. We have had just over 300 Black alumni at RE; it’s like a family. It’s messy, it comes with its ups and downs. We said: let’s get back together and connect.” That’s happened through reBa and the alumni board at RE; Weaver previously served as co-chair of that board, and Range and Stephens are both active members. And, thanks to reBa, the REconnection is happening earlier for current Black students. Stephens has spearheaded meet- and-greets on campus for new Black families, and has worked to ensure that Black students are connected to reBa before they depart for college. She has also reminded alumni of the importance of their presence for support and mentorship. “A lot of effort has been focused on bringing Black alumni back,” Stephens said. “We want them to come back and be involved with the students, get “Where we landed as a community was saying that we need to be connected. The goal of reBa, as we called it – the Ransom Everglades Black Alumni – was to connect all Black alumni, regardless of their given experience on campus.” – Cheyenne Range ’14