From the Fall 2018 issue of EHS Magazine
The Present
A COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, COMMUNITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
There are countless stories of remarkable firsts throughout the 50 years that have passed since Episcopal integrated. In 1971, Regi Burns, who held the highest ranking spot on the High List for the entirety of his time at EHS, became the School’s first Black Head Monitor. In 1972, Tony Chase became the first Black Chair of the Honor Committee. In 1986, Rodney Robinson founded Spectrum, Episcopal’s first group designed to raise awareness of diversity. Spectrum has evolved, but still thrives today in the spirit in which it was founded. In 1991, Heather Collins ’93, April Harris Crosby ’94, Kristine Nelson ’95, and Patrice Scott Williams ’95 became the School’s first Black female students. In 1996, Danielle O’Banion ’97 became the first Black female Head Monitor. The list of trailblazers goes on, and Episcopal is indebted to the courageous young men and women who helped to make the School a better place for generations to come.
While change, especially transformational change, is a process – one that can take years, decades, or more – Episcopal has, by very obvious measures, made great strides in terms of awareness and practice of diversity, equity, community-building, and inclusion in the 50 years since integration. Today, fostering a community where all are welcomed, valued, and included is of the utmost importance to the School.
The School’s commitment to building a diverse community is reflected in the changing demographics of Episcopal’s constituents. This year, 32 percent of students identify as people of color. While Episcopal has not made as much headway toward diversifying the faculty as it has the students, six of the nine new faculty hired for the 2018-19 school year are people of color, bringing the percentage of faculty of color to 16.5. This represents considerable progress, given the School employed just 11.2 percent faculty of color five years ago, and did not hire its first Black teacher until the mid-80s.
That Black teacher was St. Albans School alumnus Raymond Brown, who Ainslie hired to teach social studies in 1985. He remained at Episcopal, where he had a positive experience, for two years. Brown, who hails from a family of civil rights leaders, notes, “This was my way to participate in the family business, so to speak, of trailblazing….There was a tone in the air, I believe, that was building the inclusiveness that they were looking to achieve.”
As with its commitment to diversity, the School’s dedication to community, equity, and inclusion is visible on a wide range of fronts, one of which is in its support for the work of the Office of Community and Equity.
Says Director of Community and Equity Joel Sohn, “My role has officially existed in some capacity since 1991. Episcopal has continually reassessed the role and the mission of the office, which I believe is an indication of the School’s willingness to honestly look at its successes and shortcomings.
“With each new group of students come new needs. Our goal is to make every student, no matter their background, not only feel included here on campus, but feel that they can embrace their full selves while living here. Only when we nurture students in this way, can each student feel like they belong.”
AFFINITY GROUPS AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS
The School supports a number of affinity groups that, as defined by the National Association of Independent Schools, are comprised of “participants who engage in conversations that matter within a space defined and protected by and for those who share race and ethnicity in common. Affinity group space derives its meaning, integrity, and transformative power from participation by same-group members.” Episcopal offers affinity groups for members of the following communities: African-American/ Black Female, African-American/Black Male, Asian/Pacific Islander/ Desi-South Asian/Affinity, Latinx, and LGBTQ+.
In this its first year, the Black Student Alliance is committed to “celebrating and spreading awareness of the rich culture of the African Diaspora at Episcopal High School by initiating conversation among students, hosting organized events, and showcasing our culture.” As the BSA states in its mission, “As a unit, we will educate our school community on the vast aspects of African-American culture and the significance of being a Black student at Episcopal. We aim to mold our members into leaders to help shape the experience of Black students at Episcopal. Furthermore, we are dedicated to introducing authentic cultural experiences to our school community.”
While affinity groups serve same-group participants, Episcopal’s cultural organizations – such as the Alliance of Asian Cultures and Experiences, Gender and Sexuality Alliance, Mi Gente, and Spectrum – invite involvement from any member of the community.
COMMUNITY BUILDING AND CURRICULUM
The BSA assumed a key leadership role in hosting Episcopal’s commemoration of 50 years of integration, and will also help to organize the School’s 2019 MLK Jr. Day Symposium, which will mark the third year of the day-long, campus-wide initiative to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year’s event will bring together a variety of voices and perspectives to foster greater awareness of the role Dr. King has played in the lives of all Americans and to facilitate conversations and workshops that promote equity and inclusion. The event will expand upon past symposiums, with the program serving as the host space for the Virginia Diversity Network’s Upper School Diversity Conference and its participants from peer schools.
While events to mark MLK Jr. Day and Black History Month represent critically important community moments, the School also celebrates Black and African-American voices as part of its regular curriculum.
Robinson remembers the lack of diversity of voices represented in Episcopal’s curriculum in the 1980s: “In English we learned about different poets, and I said, ‘Hey, can’t we learn some Langston Hughes?’ My teacher’s response was, ‘Well, we’ve already filled the curriculum, and we can’t make any changes.’ So there was no diversity in the English curriculum, or any curriculum at all…There was no academic inclusion of different perspectives.”
Today, English students explore works by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Frederick Douglass, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, and yes, Langston Hughes, among many others.
“Our department chairs and I have worked hard to increase the exposure to and the study of a more diverse set of texts...We’ve worked really hard not only to diversify the electives we offer, but also the core texts,” says Assistant Head for Academics Mary Fielder.
Outside of the classroom, Episcopal’s faculty are also deeply committed to exploring ways that they can help to nurture an equitable and inclusive environment.
“It’s not just about making EHS a welcoming place, but an inclusive place,” says Fielder. “It’s not just ‘you’re welcome here.’ It’s ‘you belong here.’”
Each year, faculty attend (and often present at) the National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference, the National Association of Independent Schools Diversity Leadership Institute, and the White Privilege Conference. Episcopal also participates in SEED – Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity – a peer-led, on-campus program that, according to SEED’s website, “promotes change through self-reflection and interpersonal dialogue and builds capacity for more equitable curriculum, campuses, workplaces, and communities.” By the end of this school year, more than half of the Episcopal faculty will have engaged with SEED.