August 17, 2020 Dear Packer Community,
In the weeks since the 2019-20 school year closed, we have been grappling with what school would look like for our students, faculty, and staff in the fall. At the same time, we have been taking the promised steps toward a reimagined approach to building a truly anti-racist culture at Packer. In our June 30 email to the Packer Community, the Board of Trustees and I shared with you our plan to achieve our anti-racism goals, including specific action steps we would take in the subsequent three months and in the coming year.
Our Anti-Racism Action Plan builds on the foundation of the diversity and equity work that has been in place at Packer. However, as powerful testimonies on the Black at PCI Instagram page and candid feedback from alumni, current students, and families have illustrated, our previous work has not been enough. In addition to concerns that Packer Professionals of Color have also shared with me this year, our whole professional community — in particular white administrators, faculty, and staff — now better understands just how extensively equity work still needs to be prioritized within our school.
The ongoing national reckoning about race, racial violence, and systemic inequity makes it impossible to ignore the experiences of those within our own community. So now we are approaching this work differently — and we need your support and engagement to ensure success.
To make certain that we have the resources necessary to achieve our goals, the Board and I have more than doubled the budget for our diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism work. We are implementing various measures of accountability and expect that you will hold us accountable as well.
I am extremely appreciative of those who have participated in our initial anti-racism work this summer. Administrators, faculty, and staff have come together as an Equity Working Group to assess Packer’s current policies, procedures, and professional development needs, and to offer recommendations to support our new Packer Anti-Racism Council (PARC). In addition, the newly created student-led Change Committee partnered with members of various departments and offices to review the scope and sequence of our curriculum and to determine ways to ensure it reflects an anti-racist perspective. At a time when we could all benefit from a much-needed break, I am especially grateful to the students who sacrificed time off to help us move forward in this work.
We are at the halfway point to the three-month deadline to implement the immediate steps in our Anti-Racism Action Plan. Below I have provided some highlights of what we have accomplished so far. Full details about our progress are also available on the new Anti-Racism Action Plan page of the Packer website: www.packer.edu/anti-racism.
Faculty and Student Investigations
Training for the Packer Community
These are just a few examples of the training that will take place over the course of the next year. I am personally looking forward to the insights that I will garner from these growth opportunities. After a year as head of school, I have realized we need to develop a deeper understanding of how students of color experience Packer. These training sessions will allow our community to gain a common understanding and work together to make change.
Packer Anti-Racism Council
Ongoing Community Outreach
Ongoing and Public Accountability
Our Anti-Racism Action Plan provides a clearly defined roadmap for the next 10 months, one which will surely expand and evolve beyond that timeframe. We recognize that it will take much longer to reshape a culture that has formed over the past 175 years. This work must be holistic — addressing anti-racism at both institutional and interpersonal levels — and ongoing. I am grateful for the contributions of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, families, and Board thus far and look forward to a continued partnership as we work to create a more equitable Packer — one that truly welcomes and appreciates every member of our unique community.
Best, ![]()
Alumni, former faculty and staff, former parents, grandparents, and friends: You have received this email as part of our commitment to the entire Packer community to communicate our Anti-Racism Action Steps. If you would like to opt out of these communications, please click “Unsubscribe from this mailing list” below.
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