Phillips Academy – Andover

One task force subcommittee is "Diverse representation in trustee, student, faculty and staff and administrators: Examine the admission, retention, engagement and achievement of BIPOC students."

The Board pledged to, "Reaffirm the Board of Trustees’ commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). This will include re-examining the board’s efforts to enhance its own diversity and make changes where necessary, increasing efforts to embrace equity and inclusion in all board endeavors, requiring anti-racism education for all trustees, and extending the charter of the Committee on Equity and Inclusion."

A task force subcommittee will examine "Cultural Competency skill development for trustees, students, faculty, staff and administrators: Develop and integrate skills to promote anti-bias, anti-racism, courageous conversations, generative feedback, and cultural responsiveness in student and employee populations.”

The Board said, "We will build on efforts of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies to embed inquiry of race and ethnicity within the core curriculum."

School official says that systemic racism can result from an interplay of different systems. Official and others have discussed housing and disciplinary policies with Dean of Students.

Another task force subcommittee is "Student, Faculty and Employee Climate, Culture and Experiences: Assess and strategize improvements for BIPOC student experiences in Academic life, Residential life, Discipline, health and wellness, EBI and CAMD programming; Evaluate and recommend improvements for BIPOC employee experiences in onboarding, management relations, complaint procedures, talent development, accountability systems and practices."

The Board of Trustees has "committed $1.2 million to this matching fund" to "encourage support of CAMD and equity and inclusion efforts."

“More than 1,000 alumni, parents, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends recently secured the success of the Andover Challenge for Equity and Inclusion” by raising “$1.2 million in gifts for racial and social justice initiatives across the Academy.”

According to a 2002 article, this has not been a recent issue. Andover officials have discussed "the race issue." Students were required to take “'Life Issues,' which immerses students in the holy trinity of university multiculturalism: race, class, and gender." An administrator even gave a presentation in 1997 on "how dominant standards of beauty injure black women’s self-esteem."

An article from the student Phillipian newspaper says, "By organizing orientation to discuss community, justice, and joy, I think Andover has begun handling student concerns about racism well. While not perfect, talking about some of the racist events in our country’s recent history has proven that they are trying to face this.”

The Board also pledged to "continue to engage alumni in opportunities for meaningful reflection on racism and systemic oppression."

The Board pledged to continue the Community and Multicultural Development's (CAMD) "justice series, which examines anti-black and white supremacist ideologies in the criminal justice system, economic and educational institutions, and voter disenfranchisement."

Andover’s “Associate Head of School for Equity, Inclusion and Wellness” advised students to “Continue to educate yourself on systemic racism and anti-racism; Attend a protest, sign a petition, write a letter, draw others into the conversation; As you are able, support nonprofits, grassroots organizations, and black- owned businesses financially.”

Another task force subcommittee is "nstitutional Systems, Policies and Practices: Assess and refine all current organizational systems to integrate better diversity and inclusion practices and perspectives to drive equity and excellence."

School official sent a symbolic letter calling for social justice.

Interview with new head of school discussed how the institution has tried to evolve and respond to the world.

The Board pledged to, "Dedicate a task force to establish Andover’s strategic focus on anti-racism."

The Board issued a statement, which included the following, “We reaffirm Andover’s commitment to educate youth from every quarter, and in doing so, preparing students to combat systemic racism in our institutions and our country.”

“The call to action is palpable and necessary: to honor lives of Black Americans, to condemn police brutality, to dismantle systems based on racist values, and to stand in solidarity to affirm that BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

The "Andover Anti-Racism Task Force will examine Andover’s policies, practices, and institutional biases with respect to race."

Andover established an Anti-Racism Task Force on September 10, 2020. In the statement announcing the creation of the task force, the school emphasized its past equity and inclusion work. The task force will do a “comprehensive review of the status of diversity, equity, and inclusion” at Andover. Its focus is intersection, as the task force "will also examine how racist behavior and racism have unjustly affected Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian racial groups in the Andover community.” The task force will mainly " explore many dimensions of school function, including formal and informal traditions and cultural practices, that may be particularly rooted in anti-Black sentiment and actions that adversely affect the student and adult experience.”

Overall purpose of the taskforce is to “by late spring 2021, provide insightful and actionable recommendations to the Board of Trustees and Head of School on ways to improve the Andover experience for all and to create accountability for our entire Community as we endeavor to identify, disrupt, and dismantle racist systems and behaviors.” As of today, they have "met 11 times and presented two times to the Board of Trustees. “Early in our work, Task Force members defined a common vocabulary, identified subcommittees, and created a timeline of milestones."

On August 10, 2020, Phillips Academy posted on its Instagram page that the Andover magazine is seeking to highlight the voices of diverse students in discussing “racism and systemic injustice.” This is facilitated by partnering with both the Af-Lat-Am Alumni Committee and the Office of Alumni Engagement. This post was also reposted on its Facebook page and Twitter account.

On June 19, 2020, Phillips Academy released on its Instagram page a statement of solidarity to Black students at Andover by saying, “We hear and value your voices.”

On June 17, 2020, Phillips Academy released on its Instagram page a statement from the interim head of school who stated that trustees are outlining their plans to “address systemic racism and amplify DEI initiatives.” This post was also featured on its Facebook page.

On June 5, 2020, Phillips Academy released on its Instagram page a statement to “condemn police brutality” in solidarity with the BLM movement.

On July 1, 2020, Phillips Academy posted on its Instagram page responding to the death of George Floyd on its Instagram page by releasing a statement to “acknowledge these intolerable, horrific acts of racism” and to “raise our minds to the cause of working to prevent the racially charged injustices that permeate society.” This post was also featured on its Facebook page and Twitter account.

On July 24, 2020 Phillips Academy released a statement on its Facebook page announcing that the new head of school hosted a discussion on “race and privilege.” This was also featured on its Twitter account.

On July 21, 2020, Phillips Academy posted on its Facebook page that, “The Tang Institute presents the ethi{CS} project: a four-part summer learning series on how to include race and ethics in your computer science or technology curriculum.” This was also featured on its Twitter account.

On June 18, 2020, Phillips Academy posted a link to “Mr. Housiaux's discussion on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and The Work Ahead” on its Facebook page. This was also featured on its Twitter account.

On its Twitter account on August 27, 2020, Phillips Academy highlighted Danny Evans for “taking a stand against racial injustice.”

On August 7, 2020, Phillips Academy retweeted the Tang Institute’s statement reflecting on an event which brought Milo Phillips-Brown to discuss “embedding ethics across the curriculum” and “inclusive design, algorithmic bias, and experiential ethics.”