Greetings!
Over the years, St. Paul’s School has been writing a text that more fully captures the collective work to promote an inclusive culture for as many current students as possible. Examples include creating student affinity and alliance groups; preventing and responding to incidents of bias, discrimination, and hate; expanding opportunities for advancement for underrepresented groups, including girls and people of color and multicultural backgrounds. The St. Paul’s School Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice narrative continues, with our current chapter taking place amid the setting of social, political, and economic tensions. Our story is shaped by challenges and opportunities at national, sector, and school levels. St. Paul’s School has been and remains focused on the text we are currently writing together through our shared aspirations, shared vision, and common life.
To more fully integrate this multifaceted work across and within the School, we draw inspiration and guidance from the following key framing documents:
- School Prayer and Inclusivity Statement
- St. Paul’s School Mission, Guiding Principles and Strategic Priorities
- SPS Board of Trustees June 2020 letter to the SPS community
- NAIS Principles of Good Practice: Equity & Justice
The Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Initiatives works collaboratively with many departments and individuals to ensure that St. Paul’s School is a welcoming and inclusive community for all people — regardless of their identities, backgrounds, and beliefs. We do this by increasing diversity, deepening equity, and strengthening inclusivity at all institutional levels. We have identified five key areas to focus our efforts:
- Serve as a partner/liaison to Faculty DEIJ and Student DEIJ Councils;
- Serve as a partner/liaison to the offices of the Chaplaincy, School Life, Dean of Students, Multicultural Student Support;
- Serve as a partner/liaison for 17 student affinity and alliance groups and two faculty affinity and alliance groups;
- Co-create an outreach plan to enhance relationship with BIPOC alums; and
- Manage the DEIJ budget.
As an Episcopal school, St. Paul’s strives to recognize and honor the differences within our School, learn from one another, and co-create a sense of belonging for every member of our community, as we seek to draw forth what is best in ourselves and each other. We hope what you discover on this website illuminates the fact that this important work is grounded in our Episcopal identity, embodied by a School Prayer which calls us to never forget to be kind and to be unselfish in friendship, thoughtful of those less happy than ourselves and eager to bear the burdens of others.
Please accept my warm welcome!
Bethany Dickerson Wynder
Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Initiatives