Remarks from the EastEd Middle School Diversity Conference 2018

From comments given to participants at the EastEd Middle School Diversity Conference hosted at Sandy Spring Friends School on Jan. 30:

Words have been spoken and unspeakable events have occurred where the intent has been to roll back civil rights that recognize and protect LGTBQ+ people, brown people, black people, people who have been incarcerated, victims of sexual abuse, people who worship in synagogues and those who worship in mosques, and people who come to this country out of fear and persecution.
 
Not here.  Not in our house.  The Sandy Spring Friends School community affirms our shared commitment to protecting civil rights for all individuals. As a diverse community inspired by and dedicated to Quaker values of equality and inclusion, we stand in support of all of our brothers and sisters and their right to be accepted and respected in public life. We are a safe and welcoming space for all.  We are glad that you are here. 
 
When I close my eyes and visualize all of you; the diversity leaders in our schools, I see that we form a tree with wide branches that shelters all.  In good times, under our canopy, we can be noisy, boisterous, playful, welcoming and courageous.  In not-good-times, under the same canopy, there is space to be reflective, confused and disappointed.  But we will always be welcoming and we will always be courageous.  
 
Today, we will meet strangers who will become friends.  We will meet people we will like without trying and others that we may find disagreeable. Now, when I close my eyes, I see a marketplace full of amazing people, with different ideas, different languages, different perspectives.  In this marketplace, we are free to be ourselves, to do original work, to consider difficult problems and to increase our understanding in small and big ways. 
 
This is incredibly vital work that doesn’t stop when return to our schools or go to high school or earn a degree or land a job for the first time (or second or third), and it doesn’t stop when you are old enough to have students of your own.  The work that you do today supports the foundation on which true leadership is built.  I know you will spend today practicing kindness, feeling grace and spreading joy.
 
Welcome to our beloved community.