September
1985
Lewis Bryant becomes the first Director of Minority Affairs, later called Multicultural Services
Fall
1985
The Minority Students Committee is formed
Fall
1994
BB&N students attend the People of Color Conference for the first time
May
2007
The first annual One School One World event takes place
Fall
2020
The DEIG office expands from 1 to 7 team members
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
As an independent school in New England, BB&N has had a complicated history with diversity, equity, and inclusion. Today, the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Global Education (DEIG) Office is a central part of the school's administration, and the school is working toward becoming a fully anti-racist institution. Below is a history of DEI initiatives introduced at BB&N throughout the years, with a history of BB&N's global education programs provided on the following page.
Lewis Bryant was hired in 1983 as an admissions consultant and to coach several athletics teams. In 1985, he became the first Director of Minority Affairs, a title changed in 1990 to Director of Multicultural Services. This was the first DEI position created at BB&N, and Lewis was the only practitioner at the school for several decades, alongside teaching history and coaching. From 1985 until his retirement in 2020, Lewis worked with the Parents of Black Students for Cultural Diversity, the Administrative Team, the faculty on all three campuses, Diversity Committees, the Multicultural Student Alliance, and the larger BB&N community to expand conversations and understanding around issues of race and equity.
Above: Lewis Bryant, 1985.
Left: above, Lewis Bryant coaching football with coaches Jack Etter and Jim Vershbow and players Malcolm Turner '89 and Richard Gray '88, 1986; below, Lewis leading students in a panel discussion, 1989-1990.
"Lewis has, in the years he has been at BB&N, established himself as an essential member of our community. Not only as a supportive and wise friend to students of color and their families but also as a valued member of the faculty and administration. Lewis has justly earned himself a position of respect and admiration for virtually all – and there are many – who work with or come in contact with him. No one is irreplaceable in an institution, but if I were to pick one person at this School who would be difficult to replace, it would have to be Lewis. His wisdom, friendliness, and hearty sense of humor, as well as his strong sense of values, make him a highly valued member of our School."
Find a transcription of this audio clip at the link here.
Above: on the left, the founding MSA group, 1986; on the right, Lewis Bryant listens in to a group conversation, 1985.
Below right: MSA members outside the Da Marino restaurant on a field trip to Harlem, c. 1998.
BB&N's first student affinity space came in the 1985-86 school year, with faculty support from Lewis Bryant. Initially called the Minority Students Committee, the group was soon renamed the Multicultural Student Alliance (MSA). The 1986 yearbook described the club: "This year the Minority Students Committee established itself as an organized and effective voice at BB&N. The aim of the group is to educate the school population about minorities and perceptions in order to eradicate prejudice and inequality through a better understanding. Our meetings were characterized by in-depth discussions of current events, issues, and problems that minorities face in school and out. We had a number of speakers, showed films, and held various events to raise money for a scholarship fund for minority students. It was a very successful year for us, and the group is looking forward to a strong future."
The founding of the MSA was a key milestone in BB&N's history, and the group later evolved into SHADES, which continues to gather today. Other affinity groups have since arisen. At the Upper School, this list includes the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), Asian American Student Association (AASA), Brothers Seeking Academic Excellence (BSAE), EMPOWER for female students of color, FemCo, Students Honoring All Differences and Embracing Similarities (SHADES), Amplify Muslim Voices (AMV), the Jewish Cultural Club, and the recently formed Black Student Union (BSU). At the Lower School, affinity spaces include an Affinity Lunch, the Asian Cultural Society, the Banana Splits for students with separated parents, and the Rainbow Club.
Left: One of many flyers created by members of the Asian American Student Association (AASA), on the theme "Resist Racism", May 2021.
Right: The front page of the first issue of That's What She Said, an online feminist newsletter published by FemCo from 2017-2019.
A number of reports and studies have been conducted at BB&N to look at equity issues. The first came in 1992, when the Multicultural Assessment Plan addressed issues of racism and disparity in the BB&N community, and included recommendations from a National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) visiting team. Fifteen years later in 2007, two other notable equity studies were conducted: the first looked at academic success and factors that prevent students from being successful at BB&N, and the second, funded by a grant from the E.E. Ford Foundation, examined the achievement gap at BB&N between white students and students of color, particularly Black students. This second study was the first of its kind to be conducted by a New England independent school. In 2014, Special Project Coordinator Brian Johnson wrote an article on the school's progress after the report for the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), available here.
In 2007, Lewis Bryant created BB&N's Diversity Guide, which looked at where topics around DEI appeared in the curriculum on all three campuses. The guide is available online here.
Above: the header of DEIG In!, the DEIG Office's monthly online newsletter.
The last decade has seen a number of DEIG practitioners join BB&N and continue the work that Lewis Bryant started in the 1980s. In 2018, Leila Bailey-Stewart joined as the Special Assistant to the Head of School for Inclusive Communities. A year later, Leila created and structured the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Global Education (DEIG) Office and managed the hiring process for an additional seven team members. The DEIG Office is closely interwoven with the fabric of BB&N; as one faculty member said, "DEIG is a very important part of the BB&N experience and reflects the world we live in: we are a part of the school, city, state, nation, and the world." Learn more about DEIG at BB&N by clicking the link here.
When Leila came to BB&N in 2018, she spent six months speaking with students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, families, senior leadership, the Board of Trustees, and other members of the BB&N community about diversity, equity, and inclusion at BB&N. These conversations resulted in a 2019 report titled "Building a Pathway to Inclusive Communities", which addressed Leila's findings and several recommendations for how the school should move forward. Read the report by clicking the link here.
Beginning in 2020 and stretching over several years, Director of Institutional Research Sue Cook undertook a research project called Black Students @ BB&N: Establishing a Baseline. In communications to staff, Sue described the project: "Aligned with BB&N’s commitment to 'strengthen the recruitment, support, and retention of underrepresented populations at BB&N,' the Office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Global Education (DEIG) and the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) co-sponsored this initiative to create the first dataset of the academic trajectories of BB&N students who identify as Black. The study collected existing demographic and academic data of Black students who were in Grades 5-12 in 2020-21." The Baseline Study is an ongoing project.
Above: the cover of "Building a Pathway to Inclusive Communities", 2019.
Above: an Instagram post for a Masks@BBN rally, 2020.
In 2021, the Student DEIG Steering Committee (SDSC) was created, which came from a series of demands from a group of anonymous students and alumni. In the 2020-2021 academic year, independent school students across the country started anonymous Instagram accounts to bring awareness to instances of anti-Black behavior at their schools. BB&N’s students created “Masks@BBN”, which included examples of hate directed at students of color and LGBTQIA+ students. After school administration acknowledged the seriousness of issues brought up by the account, a group of students and alumni of color put together the Masks Proposal, a list of recommendations for direct actions the school could take to combat racism and prejudice. One of the recommendations was the formation of the SDSC, which was officially created in the following academic year.
In its continuing work to become a more inclusive institution, the school has focused on making a BB&N education more accessible to families and students with diverse backgrounds. In particular, Director of Financial Aid Genieve Rankel has been committed to creating an equitable and diverse student community at BB&N since before the current DEIG Office. Her work has had a huge impact on the school: in 2020, BB&N's annual commitment to financial aid topped $10 million, with 26% of students receiving some level of financial aid. In comparison, the same annual commitment in 1997 topped $1.7 million, with just 17% of students receiving financial aid. BB&N has also been working toward welcoming a more racially diverse student body. In 2001, the school set a goal for enrollment to reach 33% students of color; two decades later in 2021, the BB&N community included 43% of self-identified students of color.