As part of an important, ongoing dialogue about race, racism, and justice—both on campus and more broadly—the Inclusion Task Force has created a program for today’s Quarantine time. We hope the schedule below provides the opportunity for all community members to engage, reflect, and listen. The stories around us—like that of Bryan Stevenson and John Lewis—can inspire the empathy and action required for an inclusive, affirming community.
- 4:00 – 4:45 pm: Alliances are invited to hold Affinity spaces for their members. (Affinity spaces are for those who can speak from the “I” perspective.) If you want to participate, you will receive an email invitation from one of your alliance leaders. Alliance advisors are asked to facilitate that space.
- 6:00 pm: Food is delivered to dorms for dinner following our usual Quarantine protocol with one individual retrieving one meal at a time.
- 6:45 pm: Community members will watch a 24-minute conversation between the late John Lewis, a longtime activist for civil rights, and Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, in which they discuss the nation’s successes and failures in ensuring all Americans will enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Following the video, students and employees will write and share their reflections about individual and collective commitments to ensuring “justice for all.” The video and reflection submission can be found here.
- 7:45 pm: We move to Squad Zooms (including day students). On-duty faculty can use this time to check in with their students about the day and, more specifically, refer to the following questions to close out the day’s shared conversations.
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- In his final opinion piece for the New York Times, John Lewis wrote, “Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble.” In what “good” ways might you advocate for change, wherever and whenever change is required?
- Martin Luther King Jr. believed that in the face of injustice “each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up, and speak out.” Do you agree?
- Upon what qualities do you think activists for change like John Lewis, Bryan Stevenson, and countless citizens whose names will never be known rely to keep striving for social justice? How might you cultivate those qualities in yourself and others?
Looking ahead, we’ll revisit our Community Read after Sunday’s Convocation ceremony.
We recognize that this has been a difficult day—for many reasons. Please rest assured that further updates are forthcoming. In the meantime, thank you for your ongoing efforts to support a safe, healthy, and inclusive school community.
Sincerely,
The Inclusion Task Force
Mr. Akella
Ms. Brown
Ms. Creagh
Ms. Hutchinson
Dr. Hills
Mr. Miller
Mr. Scandling
Mr. Taylor