STEADY PROGRESS Through student organizations, faculty professional development, alumni outreach and commitment from school leaders, Trinity dives into the important work of building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community A group of Black alumni has continued to engage with administrators and faculty to share perspectives and ideas for Black alumni engagement. These sessions have been key in learning from alumni and strengthening connections. “They have all been very excited about coming back and sharing your experiences with younger kids,” said Sam Mickens, admission associate and head football coach, who has attended and helped facilitate these online meetings. “And the school has been very open to ideas about ways to get alumni of color involved and more connected.”
“Students thrive when they have a sense of belonging in an environment of mutual respect and understanding. This has always been a strength of Trinity. Our community is richer when everyone is “here now” and invested. Our students are empowered to take risks, try new things, learn from failure and build confidence to tackle the next steps in their lives.” — Honor the Mission: A Strategic Plan for Trinity 2018-2023 Approved by the board of trustees in 2018, these words reaffirmed the school’s ongoing commitment and aspiration that every student find a sense of belonging at Trinity. With the nation’s renewed focus on issues of systemic racism and social justice over the past year, this commitment has been continued by students, faculty, alumni, staff and friends of Trinity through the sincere work of building diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). “We really are trying to look at everything we do through inclusion — coming back to the strategic plan and building a sense of belonging.” said Laura Hamlin Weiler ’00, head of community engagement, who has been coordinating Trinity’s DEI initiatives this school year. “This year has provided renewed clarity and focus for things that have always been foundational for Trinity.” Trinity’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, comprised of 19 faculty and staff who have met regularly throughout the year, is committed to examining all aspects of the school through the lens of DEI. Subcommittee work includes increasing diversity among faculty and staff as well as collecting qualitative data through personal interviews and conversations to enable the administration and faculty to better understand the experience for those in varied socioeconomic backgrounds, people of color, and other traditionally underrepresented groups.
Another significant theme of 2020-21 has been to develop and formalize opportunities for both students and faculty to engage in conversations with one another to share perspectives, tell their stories, and most importantly learn about someone else, someone different from themselves. Inspired by the “One Small Step” listening project created by the founder of NPR StoryCorps project, Chapels, Morning Meetings, club meetings and more have been focused on people connecting and sharing stories. “That’s been a major theme for us this year,” said Weiler. “Because we feel like this work is best done at Trinity through telling stories and listening to and learning from other people’s stories, finding common humanity and understanding through different perspectives.” New to campus this year, the Black Alliance Initiative has very quickly created meaningful platforms for students and faculty to listen, learn and engage. Meetings have featured whole group and small group discussions around a range of topics. In February, the students from the BAI Executive Board started a series of lunchtime conversations with teachers, beginning with the social studies department. Among the goals are to share what it is like to be a Black student in a history class, and to better understand what it is like for a teacher to approach a topic like slavery when there might only be one Black student in the class. “The courage of these students in initiating conversation with their teachers around incredibly difficult topics is remarkable,” said Weiler. “They are eager to continue discussions with other faculty and staff.” In addition to providing targeted facilitation with both the faculty and the board of trustees, Trinity’s relationship with the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC) has continued with thematic work with the student body at large and its leaders. In early October, Jonathan Zur led an all-school virtual assembly on
“This is essential work that must occur every day and every year, on our campus and beyond to be successful and enduring.” — Rob Short 22
SPRING 2021
