Diversity Committees

Student Diversity Committees

Our Student Diversity Committees celebrate and engage in issues of diversity. The committees are comprised of a 6th grade committee, a 7th grade committee and an Upper School committee (8th and 9th grade). The foundations of these groups are built on self-affirming our individual cultural identities and learning how to become active global citizens. The committees are open to all, meet separately on a weekly basis, and maintain these same objectives:

• Raise awareness and sensitivity
• Enrich the Fenn educational experience and promote personal growth
• Foster mutual respect and appreciation of differences and similarities and promote cross-cultural understanding
• Prepare leaders for a competitive global community
• Support and promote cultural events organized by Fenn, its students and other schools and organizations
• Celebrate our diversity

We carry out our objectives by exploring topics that span race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic diversity, and current events. These are investigated through a global lens as well as a local lens, including our own school environment.

View grade committees

Parents Affinity group for Diversity and Inclusivity (PADI)

The Parents Affinity group for Diversity and Inclusivity embraces all under-represented groups at Fenn and is made up of international families, same-sex families, parents of students of color and other under-represented families. While all parents face challenging issues when raising their children, parents of students of color and other groups in the ‘minority’ often encounter additional and different challenges when their children attend monocultural institutions. Fenn is by no means monocultural, but we are aware of the need for families in the minority to have a voice and support. Fenn recognizes the unique challenges such families face and welcomes the ideas and strength that this group contributes to our culture.

The purpose of PADI is not to alienate or separate, but rather to further strengthen a community that is proud of diversity and of the increasing benefits of our multicultural identity. PADI can use its voice to help Fenn continue to respect and uphold all identities and provide a safe and motivating educational environment for all. The Fenn community has benefited from PADI's valuable insights into the perspectives of students of color and other minority groups and its input into the development of a school culture and curriculum that assists positive identity development in all of our students. PADI's contributions have influenced positive cultural shifts throughout the community.

Please be in touch with Simone Hutchings for further details about this affinity group and its upcoming meetings. 

The Faculty and Staff Diversity Committee

The Faculty and Staff Diversity Committee provides a collaborative space to discuss and work through issues related to diversity. We continually assess and address students' experiences related to issues of diversity within the program. To work toward learning and collecting authentic experiences of all students, we have an empirical process that includes surveys and panel based discussions in which current and past students are participants. The on-going collecting and sharing of those experiences inform our decisions on how we create initiatives to engage our broader community in achieving shared goals on having a more inclusive school environment.