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July 10, 2020

Dear Members of the Ransom Everglades Community,

In the weeks since the killing of George Floyd, our nation as a whole,
including members of our own community, has been engaged in
conversation and reflection about racism and racial injustice. On
Juneteenth-June 19th, the RE Black alumni community sent an
unambiguous letter to us, outlining their concerns and suggestions for
change. During two subsequent virtual town halls, these members of our
community shared their recollections of acts of discrimination and
racism from their days on RE’s campuses. We acknowledge these
experiences, and we are deeply moved. We are grateful to those who
stepped forward.

All students must have the opportunity to thrive and flourish in an
inclusive learning environment, free from all forms of discrimination
and racism. We are more committed than ever to ensuring that our
school embraces an inclusive mindset with equality of opportunity. We
are resolute in our efforts to be a school that not only does not
tolerate racism but also takes steps to eradicate it in all its forms.

In recent years we have prioritized the promotion and funding of
diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives throughout our community.
We fully accept that we must accelerate our efforts. We will continue
our work in partnership with our Black alumni, and we write today to
update you on Ransom Everglades’ most recent efforts.

On June 11, as our nation grappled with this moment of reckoning, the
Ransom Everglades Board of Trustees met and:

Formed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee that is chaired by
Betsy Murphy. Three years ago the board created the Student Life and
Inclusion Committee, which undertook the work of engaging our
community in diversity, equity and inclusion. This new committee will
build on those initiatives.

Charged the newly formed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
with creating a task force that will consider what Ransom Everglades
can do to address any possible form of racism in our school and
greater community. The Anti-Racism Task Force will provide information
and counsel to the school’s leadership and the Ransom Everglades Board
of Trustees and will develop an action plan in conjunction with the
DEI Committee and the Board of Trustees. The task force will include
representatives from all constituencies and is co-chaired by Director
of Inclusion and Community Engagement Carla Hill and board member
Stephanie Dua P'22 '24 '27. If you are interested in serving on this
task force please fill out this form.

Approved the promotion of Carla Hill, Director of Inclusion and
Community Engagement, to the senior leadership team.

Subsequent to the June 11 board meeting:

The Board of Trustees named James Weaver ’90 Co-chair of the Ransom
Everglades Alumni Association along with Enrique Conde ’97. James will
become an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees.

The faculty began to inventory the curriculum of both the middle and
upper schools with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion,
identifying where the curriculum cultivates a sense of belonging among
all students and where it can be improved. This summer’s work will be
used to inform curricular decisions moving forward, again ensuring
that an inclusive and anti-racist mindset is developed in all our
students.

Ransom Everglades will deploy the National Association of Independent
Schools’ Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism, which will
help us assess the climate of inclusion on our campuses in order to
shape and advance strategic equity goals. The results of the survey
will be turned over to the Anti-Racism Task Force.

The Admission Office will make certain that the admission process for
all applicants is equitable and inclusive and will continue to work to
increase the pool of Black applicants. To that end, we are adding an
additional associate to the Admission Office staff. This new employee
will bring to Ransom Everglades his experience as a DEI faculty
alliance member at his former independent school, and he will also
coach. When the hiring process is complete, we will introduce him to
the community.

Ransom Everglades will continue to diversify our employee population,
and we will enhance our support of our Black faculty, staff and
administrators.

Ransom Everglades’ senior leadership team of 11 members will jointly
attend a five-day summer workshop this month at the Klingenstein
Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College, entitled:
Anti-Oppression Teaching and Leading in Schools.

The summer reading assigned to faculty and administration is Between
the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and White Fragility by Robin
DiAngelo. The books were selected by the faculty DEI Committee.

RE will continue to curate the DEI resources found under the
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion tab on the home page of our website.

We will build on the three pillars proposed by the RE Black Alumni:
REcruitment, REtention and REsponsibilty.

We all must embrace the discomfort and come up with a clear and
actionable direction for our work. We also know that we must work
harder to connect all members of the community and most especially the
Black members of our community. We are better together, not apart, and
if our work is to be sustainable, we must join forces. We will do this
work together.

Best regards,

Jeffrey J. Hicks '84, P'21
Chair of the Board

Penny Townsend
Head of School