Maret Alumni Association

July 29, 2020

Dear Fellow Maret Alumni,

As many of you know, an @blackatmaret Instagram account was created last month through which former and present students, parents, and faculty posted and commented about their experiences being Black at Maret. The stories shared in this account have been moving, disturbing, and unfortunate. As a community, we acknowledge the pain reflected in these incidents—that racism and bias are prevalent in our society and that students, families, alumni, and faculty members have faced institutionalized prejudice and racism at Maret. I am encouraged, however, by the honesty of the alumni who posted through the account, the subsequent demands for action from many of you, and the commitment on the part of the School to move forward collaboratively as a community. As President of the Alumni Council (the governing body of the Alumni Association), I want to thank those of you who have reached out to me or the School directly and also share recent steps taken by Maret and the Board of Trustees, the Alumni Council, and fellow alumni to heal and to provide an educational environment that is built on equity, inclusion, and trust.

On July 6, a special Alumni Council meeting was called to share thoughts and reactions about the @blackatMaret postings. We took time and space to deliberate privately as a Council before being joined by Head of School Marjo Talbott, Director of Equity & Inclusion Courtney Cothran-Fenner, and Director of Development Sally Dunkelberger. The conversations were candid and open reflecting many different perspectives. Marjo and Courtney listened carefully to our concerns and ideas before sharing Maret’s new initiatives in combating anti-Black racism and longstanding work in equity and inclusion.

Over the days and weeks since, the conversation has continued in force. As an ex-officio member of Maret’s Board, I reported on our Alumni Council meeting to the trustees on July 8 and shared the Council’s commitment to represent and support the alumni through engagement in the School’s anti-racism work. Another important development is that a Black alumni group is currently being formed. Several of our Black alumni, the Council, and the School are working together to create this group, which will play a direct advisory role in Maret’s Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF), foster relationships and promote interests of Black alumni, and connect with the current faculty and students at Maret. My former classmate, fellow Council Member and Maret’s new Director of Annual Giving, Dana Tignor ’99, is working directly with the initial group. You can reach her at dtignor@maret.org if you are interested in being involved. We will continue to update the entire alumni community on this group as it evolves, and I thank and commend those of you who are spending significant time and effort spearheading this endeavor. This week, Marjo provided an update on the School’s Anti-Racism Task Force. Here is an excerpt from that letter:

Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF)
As announced in June, I asked Ian Cameron, President of the Maret Board, and Courtney Cothran-Fenner, our Director of Equity & Inclusion, to co-chair a newly-constituted Anti-Racism Task Force. This group met this past week and confirmed the following goals and priorities:

GOALS

Maret is committed to continue building a truly equitable and inclusive community.

We have heard from students, alumni and faculty members who have faced institutionalized prejudice and racism at Maret. Through the Instagram account @blackatMaret, Black students have honestly shared how their experiences of racism have left indelible harm and pain. This harming of students must stop. These experiences do not exist in a vacuum, and we must listen and do more to fight institutional racism at Maret; we must examine our practices, policies and protocols to ensure equitable experiences. We must start an honest dialogue about how to support and protect Black students, alumni, parents, and faculty members.
 

1. We must further educate our teachers and school leaders to reduce systemic bias through diversity and inclusion trainings that are iterative and ongoing.
2. We must develop a system of reporting injustices when they happen, with clear and transparent steps for each incident.
3. We need to conduct an institutional audit to ensure that our educational program provides positive, unbiased, and comprehensive curricula and that our admissions, hiring, and retention programs are devoid of bias and promote a truly diverse population.
4. We call on the entire Maret community (faculty, parents, students, alumni) to partner with the school and uphold its commitment to Maret’s anti-racism efforts. This would be done through one-time listening groups and ongoing advisory groups that would meet regularly.
5. We must work with our Institutional Research team to analyze past research and develop new tools to root out racial bias in our program and practices.