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This is my prep school. (Class of ‘72.) The school went full progressive after I left (although my civics and history teacher was a Marxist). I’m disgusted and have asked them to remove me from the alumnae mailing list.

I received the following Wednesday:
“ I am writing to you as both a fellow alumna and current parent at Head-Royce School to share an exciting and important new initiative that I and a group of other Head-Royce parents have launched in response to this extraordinary year and ongoing national conversation about racism, most recently directed against Asian-Americans. As we continue to confront the double pandemics of COVID-19 and racism and police brutality in our country, we have witnessed members of the Head-Royce faculty and staff of color continue to rise to the challenge and meet the moment with heart, courage, and purpose.

In particular, I, along with several other parents, witnessed first-hand the lasting impression of one transformative fourth grade teacher, who took the challenges of last year and used them to make a difference for our kids, our families and the entire Head-Royce community. He made sure every student was valued despite their different learning styles and that no one fell through the cracks of distance learning. He also helped revamp the curriculum to ensure our kids were seeing the world from different perspectives. This teacher inspired us to launch a grassroots fundraising campaign to create the Umoja Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) at Head-Royce School, an annual endowed award to recognize a faculty/staff member going above-and-beyond in furthering the mission of DEI at Head-Royce.

Umoja is the Swahili word for unity, a principle and practice of togetherness in all things good and of mutual benefit. This principle inspired the award and has also been critical in the award creation process. Parents across affinity groups — African-American Family Network, Asian Parents Network, Learning Differences Network and the new White Anti-Racist Family Network — came together in unity with the school administration to craft this endowed award.. A unique feature of the Umoja Award will be the opportunity for parent and student nominations in addition to peer nominations, with Trustees and parents on the Board’s DEI committee serving on the award selection committee.

We are very excited about the launch of this grassroots award that allows us to recognize the heroes who are leading the way in DEI at Head-Royce. However, in order for us to present the award to the first faculty/staff member this school year, we need to raise a minimum of $100,000 before April 16... Fortunately, we are more than 70% there! This is a one-time-only six week fundraising campaign to create an endowed fund that will last forever, awarding 4% of the fund value each year. We would love your support to help get us over the finish line.”