DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
Statements of Belief
Equity, inclusion, and human dignity are at the heart of the community we aspire to be. We therefore commit to the following beliefs fundamental to our Mission:
A Life of Learning
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.
A Life of Integrity
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.
A Life of High Purpose
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.
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 JulyDecember 2022.
Please review our DEI progress dashboard to see specific areas of impact.
BECOMING.
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.
Professional Development and Community Awareness
Create training opportunities and DEI awareness programs for all community members.
n Restorative Justice
• Contracted Suffolk University’s Center for Restorative Justice to provide restorative justice training and consulting
• Completed first round of Tier 1 restorative justice training for 16 employees
• Created a Visioning/Leadership Team to work with Suffolk University on an implementation strategy
n National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference
• Funded attendance at the NAIS annual People of Color Conference in San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 31-Dec. 3, 2022. Faculty participated in workshops, presentations, and master classes centered on the theme of “Reunited in Purpose: Elevating Our Worth, Our Agency, and Our Excellence.”
n Cultural and Heritage Celebrations:
• Hispanic Heritage Month: In an effort to bring together our heritage month programming with the overall theme of well-being in 2022, the Office of Multicultural Affairs invited Amaryllis Lopez to campus. A Puerto Rican cultural worker, Ms. Lopez presented on the topic of radical self care in two workshops for faculty and students on Oct. 12.
• Día de los Muertos: With support from the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Latinos Unidos affinity group hosted events in commemoration of Día de los Muertos, including sugar-skull decorating and an altar where students and employees could leave photographs of loved ones.
Professional Development and Community Awareness
• 'Wakanda Forever' Movie Trip: The Office of Multicultural Affairs took more than 60 students to view Wakanda Forever in an effort to bring joy and informal community bonding.
• Indigenous Heritage Celebration: The Red Hawk Native American Arts Council performed at an all-school assembly and facilitated small group workshops in commemoration of Indigenous Heritage Month. Through the arts, the council provided an enriching educational opportunity illustrating the diversity of indigenous groups in the United States, imparting knowledge on contemporary issues of indigenous sovereignty, and discussed the significance of land acknowledgements as more than performative activism.
• Three Kings Day: With support from the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Latinos Unidos and the Cooking Club came together to bake king cake in celebration of Three Kings Day.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day: In partnership with the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice and the Community Service Office, the Office of Multicultural Affairs created a commemoration centered around the theme “Communities of Care.”
n Regular and Annual Programming
• Let’s Talk About: This past fall, the focus was on politics. Students discussed neocolonialism, propaganda, and soft power.
• Lunch and Dialogue: This fall we relaunched our Lunch and Dialogue program. We meet biweekly in the library to view film clips and engage in student-facilitated discussion. The focus this fall was on environmental justice. We screened and discussed films on indigenous foodways as well as environmental pollution in a community near Newark, N.J., and its connection to social justice issues.
Communication
Develop strategic touchpoints with students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni through multiple communication platforms in an effort to both educate and inform.
n Formed student committees to plan and execute campus events. Committees meet biweekly and include the following:
• Community Day Planning Committee
• International Night Planning Committee
• Lunch and Dialogue facilitators
n Created the DICE Student Advisory Committee to provide students with a voice in the work of DEI on campus.
n Created regular meetings between the Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement and the Student Council Diversity Representative.
BELONGING.
Our diversity is our strength: The broad range of experiences, identities, and perspectives, in both students and adults, enriches and enlivens our community. But diversity alone is not enough. Every individual deserves a seat at the table; every individual should feel known, cared for, valued, and connected — a part of the whole. Through orientation programs, leadership training, careful mentorship, and purposeful House culture, every student will feel unconditionally a Lawrentian, from the moment of arrival on campus and for a lifetime.
School Leadership
Develop employee resource groups committed to making DEI an institutional priority. Cultivate an inclusive climate that champions DEI, including race, socioeconomic background, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, language, and national origin.
n Surveyed employees about potential interest groups and affinity groups and developed sign-up opportunities.
BUILDING.
The fundamental expectation of inclusion in a Harkness classroom is an enduring Lawrenceville value and provides the foundation upon which we develop programs, policies, and practices that draw us together. Through active recruitment and purposeful retention, our adult community — faculty and staff — will mirror and better support the diversity of our student body, and we will create spaces for innovation, experimentation, scholarship, and engaged social activism where Lawrentians work collaboratively to build our beloved community proactively, not reactively.
Recruitment
Increase the diversity of faculty and staff to reflect better the diversity of our student population and our greater society.
n Attended three HBCU career fairs
n Held information and recruitment sessions at Claremont Mckenna College and Occidental College in order to create new pipelines that will yield greater diversity
n Collected contact information for potential candidates
• 86 individuals, 42 graduating seniors directly invited
• 11 graduating seniors directly invited from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania
n Consulting with current fellow to build pipelines into the University of California, Berkeley, and particularly its Student Learning Center and The Berkeley Group, a consulting group focused on nonprofit placements of undergraduate students
Please review our DEI progress dashboard to see specific areas of impact >
