As members of the Riverdale community continue to reveal the systemic issues of racism that persist within our institution, many students and faculty members have raised questions concerning the administration’s next steps. For instance, what specific actions, beyond the superficial, should Riverdale take to truly create a welcoming environment for students and faculty of all identities?
To answer this question, Ms. Phyllis Dugan, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), led a summer group in which Upper School students engaged in honest dialogue about their experiences at Riverdale and the changes they would like to see implemented. “I wanted the student voice to be at the center of the conversation about what direction Riverdale should move forward in,” Ms. Dugan reflected. “I was there just to listen, take notes, and give students an opportunity to hear from one another.”
During the group’s first session, Ms. Dugan placed students into breakout rooms, asking each group to develop a list of issues for the school to prioritize as it works towards fostering inclusivity. “In the breakout rooms, the discussions we had were extremely important,” sophomore Madisyn Cunningham remarked. “There were people with different identities there, so we all had different priorities, but I liked how we found a way to align them into a few common goals that we can all commit to working towards and learning more about.”
Using the insights that each breakout room came up with, the main group was able to compose a final list of the top ten most pressing goals for the administration to work towards. These priorities included hiring more Jewish and BIPOC faculty, allocating a larger portion of Riverdale’s budget to supporting small businesses in the Bronx (particularly businesses run by people of color), establishing more transparency in the admissions process, and hosting celebrations of different cultures throughout the school year. One major point of agreement was that Riverdale must prioritize holding more required discussions around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
Senior Ava Ledes, who attended the first meeting, explained that “Riverdale often provides optional spaces for people, such as affinity groups and discussion groups, but the kids who are posing the most problems in this school aren’t going to be the ones who are willing to attend. We need more discussions, meetings, and classes that are mandatory and won’t just be attended by the students who already care about those issues.”
The group also agreed that Riverdale must diversify its curriculum, specifically through eliminating the presence of white savior narratives and teaching more stories
about marginalized communities that highlight both their struggles and their achievements.
This list of priorities generated by the students will guide Ms. Dugan’s work as the Director of DEIB this year and inform the initiatives that she crafts to help dismantle systemic issues within Riverdale.
“One thing that is always very rejuvenating from students is that, when they are bringing their critiques, it is coming from a place of hope that the school they are at can really be what they want it to be,” Ms. Dugan said. “That hope gave me that boost of energy to say, ‘Okay, we are going to be able to make something happen.’”
During the group’s second and final meeting, the focus shifted from identifying the issues themselves to focusing on how exactly they can be resolved. Students went through the list they created again, brainstorming concrete steps of action that Riverdale could take to address each of the priorities they initially identified. Ms. Dugan and her team have already begun to develop a number of initiatives from the ideas raised by students during this conversation.
For example, to address the concerns that students raised about transparency in Riverdale’s admissions process, she is collecting data from the admissions office regarding how their practices have changed over time. She will then put her findings into graphs to examine where Riverdale is in terms of diversifying its student body and faculty.
Furthermore, to meet students’ demand for mandatory discussions about equity and inclusion, Ms. Dugan is planning to designate certain grade meetings and assemblies for those conversations. She is also working on establishing a new texting system through which students can be alerted of upcoming workshops and discussion groups. Because Riverdale currently does not have a streamlined system for students and faculty to report incidents that happen to them on campus, Ms. Dugan is also in the process of crafting a school accountability system where community members can report issues that they experience and receive a response. By recording the information given by students and faculty, Ms. Dugan will be able to track trends and identify major areas of improvement within the community, as well as identify if there are individuals who are repeatedly causing harm to others.
Ms. Dugan hopes that students will continue to approach her with their concerns and ideas throughout the year, as she aims to keep students’ opinions at the core of her work. “I am here, I am open, and if there are other issues that students want to see highlighted, I am here to be their advocate,” she emphasized. Ultimately, the fruitful conversations had by Ms. Dugan’s summer group are a testament to the power of the student voice and the need for more administrators to listen to it. Similar discussions will hopefully continue throughout this school year, invoking change in our community that is both permanent and transformative.
