Choate Rosemary Hall

On June 5, 2020, the school "hosted a Day of Conversation and Refection for students and faculty, which began with discussions and films based on the injustices long faced by Black Americans. The afternoon’s schedule focused on discussion-based workshops about topics such as social media activism, the harm in 'All Lives Matter,' and art’s place in protest."

As part of its professional development program, the school offers: "SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity): Monthly faculty-led workshops" and "White Anti-Racist Workshops: Monthly faculty-led workshops."

The DEI task force held eight workshops. Topics discussed included a "bias reporting form that would be accessible on the portal and a new identity-based slur policy that would allow for the possibility of probation, suspension, or dismissal for students found using identity-based slurs."

The school also created the "Choate Fund for Justice, a restricted fund supported by individual donations...Donations to the Choate Fund for Justice will go exclusively to nonprofts that support racial justice initiatives."

There are many Equity and Inclusion organizations for students.

The Driving Equity at Choate initiative focuses on "advancing productive conversations about diversity at Choate and helping to ensure that ours is a community where difference is celebrated, not just tolerated. The DEC works with faculty and student groups to heighten awareness and attention to issues of diversity." The Office of Equity and Inclusion will offer "community forums throughout the year to share accurate information about a current event and time for community members to discuss and ask questions. Sometimes we will invite a community expert to present and share information about the event."

The DEI task force held a workshop.

The Peace and Justice course "examines contemporary topics such as poverty, human rights, racial justice, gender equity, peace and non-violence, and environmental sustainability and justice. Utilizing a variety of religious perspectives, students learn basic doctrines from each of the religions to aid in understanding, assessing, and developing solutions for the issues studied."

Immediately after George Floyd's death, the school restarted the Current Events Resource Group (CERG), which provided "resources and support to the Choate community when events in our local community, nation, and world prove challenging, divisive, or especially complex."

Select community members were invited to a lunch discussion with Dr. Davis in the afternoon. Students, faculty, and staff also attended workshops, watched videos, and engaged in discussions on topics including Diversity of Thought: When is it okay to joke about tragedy? What denotes when comedy is offensive versus when it can be healing? and Short, but Mighty: The Role of Picture Books in Celebrating Identity and Promoting Power. A debrief of the day will take place on Wednesday, January 19.

The schools wants to provide, "An inclusive and safe environment for our students and coaches that builds supportive, healthy, team cultures founded on trust, mutual respect, and an awareness toward personal biases..."

The new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion task force will go through three phases. "The first phase will focus on gathering data and information based on feedback from the Choate Rosemary Hall community. Part of this phase included inviting the community to submit equity and inclusion feedback." The second phase "will include drafted initiatives and policies for the School. It will work to provide opportunities for community members to provide feedback on such initiatives by participated in workshops with Task Force Members. Workshops began the week of August 17, 2020." And the third phase will continue "by way of two subcommittees: a Writing/Communications subcommittee and a Constituent Meetings subcommittee. The Writing/Communications subcommittee will oversee the drafting of written communications and drafting initiatives and policies. The Constituent Meetings subcommittee will focus attention on meeting with various leaders and constituent groups to gather further information and data to better prioritize the initiatives that need to be executed." The task force has released two reports. However, both of them are currently unavailable publicly.

On August 25, 2020, Choate released a statement on its Facebook page stating, “Choate is working to become a more just and equitable place for its community members and within society. Part of that work is standing in solidarity and in collective grief in response to the horrific shooting of Jacob Blake.” This post was also featured on its Twitter and Instagram accounts.

On August 7, 2020, Choate discussed on its Facebook page an activity which “asks students to consider how socially constructed identifiers and codified systems of oppressions work together to affect each of our lived experiences.” This post was also featured on its Instagram account.

On July 18, 2020, Choate announced an update to its DEI Task Force on Facebook. This post was also featured on its Twitter and Instagram account.

On June 9, 2020, Choate posted a photo from a BLM protest on Facebook. This post was also featured on its Twitter account. More photos from this event was featured on its Instagram account.

On June 4, 2020, Choate stated on Facebook, “Despite the gravity of recent race-based violence, I recognize that the unrest exploding across our country right now does not result from the murder of one Black American, or two, or three, or four. It results from four centuries of unjust treatment based on race and the systems that perpetuate that injustice. We must take hold of this historic moment as an opportunity to make progress together on behalf of real justice, equality, and peace.” This post was also featured on its Twitter and Instagram accounts.

On June 1, 2020, Choate released a statement on Facebook responding to the death of George Floyd. This post was also featured on its Twitter and Instagram accounts.

On June 27, 2020, Choate announced on its Instagram account that it is responding to “sentiments expressed” and creating a required summer reading text, Colson Whitehead’s “The Nickel Boys,” to respond to “racist and discriminatory experiences.” This post was also featured on its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

On June 27, 2020, Choate showcased a creative work titled “black pOWer” on its Instagram account.

On June 2, 2020, Choate took part in “Blackout Tuesday” on its Instagram account.

Faculty and students at Choate walked out and had a petition, which talks about issues, such as "inequitable compensation for increasing workload among faculty, inequitable distribution of workload, lack of work/life balance, increasing asks of an already strained faculty and staff, lack of community, general toxic pace of life, rigor at the expense of student health and well-being, white supremacy and racism, disregard for community health and lack of community support." Former Choate official said that many of the "issues identified by the Choate petition and feedback from other schools provoke questions about the schools’ approach to DEI."