Parsing Jim Best's Letter to the Dalton Community

Head of School Best

This letter was sent by Head of School Jim Best yesterday as a response to the anonymous parent letter. It is unedited, but my comments are italicized.

To the Dalton Community:

Like many schools across the country, Dalton is in the midst of a rigorous and constructive debate about how to bring important issues of equity to life in ways that reinforce and advance our academic program. 

No, it's not. There has been no debate. Under the cover of the COVID distraction, "anti-racism" has been presented to parents and alumni as a fait accompli, and has already been sown into the entire curriculum. 

This debate has recently centered around the School's commitment to becoming an anti-racist institution, and one or more parents recently chose to write an anonymous letter that takes issue with how – and why – we're bringing that objective to life for our students. 

Have you asked yourself why these parents chose to remain anonymous?

I'd like to take a moment to articulate the values backing that commitment, and why it is so important for our school.

At its heart, Dalton seeks to create a climate of respect rooted in creativity, curiosity, individual risk-taking, and personal excellence. Our core values of honesty, integrity, compassion, courage, humility, citizenship, justice, respect, and responsibility, are not just words on a website – they are an essential part of who we are and how we develop students of strong character.

Great list of core values - except they can't be all be when "anti-racism" is now positioned as THE core value.

Our commitment to being an anti-racist institution is a natural extension of these values. In its simplest terms, this means creating an inclusive environment where all members of our community – students, faculty, staff, parents, and alums – feel respected, valued, and heard. 

Do you think that the parents right now feel "respected, valued, and heard?" 

It's a belief that every person who walks through Dalton's doors, physical or virtual, should be treated with dignity and empathy and protected from hatred and ignorance in all its forms. None of that is onerous; none of that is ideological. 

It's not ideological? "Not being a racist" is not ideological - it's human decency. "Anti-racism" is ideological to its core. Here's how Merriam-Webster defines "ideology": 

"A systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture."

I can't think of anything that fits that description better than "anti-racism."

These are the principles that have guided our school for over a century and that will continue to be our north star.

To bring these principles to life in a thoughtful, meaningful way, this December I launched a comprehensive formal review of all DEI-related academic programming – led by independent experts and guided by exceptional faculty steeped in our rigorous academic tradition – to ensure that any existing or future programmatic and curricular revisions are consistent with our mission. 

Independent experts? Are we talking about Pollyanna? For those not familiar, Pollyanna is a "DEI consultant," and they are steeped in ideological, race-based training, including fully embracing "anti-racism" and the odious 1619 Project. They were founded by Casper Caldarola, a Dalton grad and ex board member. Their board and staff are chock full of Dalton people.

This effort will be further informed by our community through expert-led interviews and anonymous surveys, the first of which I hope everyone will complete by Monday, February 1, at
5:00 PM.

Some parents have told me the survey is a joke. The very first question asks parents to list the things they like most about Dalton's DEI mission. That's like asking, what do you like best about me, my intelligence or good looks? How about asking some of the questions that parents suggested in the anonymous letter?

As we roll out the results of this review later this spring, I intend to do a better job of demonstrating that excellence and inclusion aren't competing ideas; each makes the other stronger. Rigor and anti-racism aren't mutually exclusive, they're integral to each other. 

Absolutely wrong. A key tenet of "anti-racism" is equity. Equity means equal results. It means ditching advanced classes if blacks aren't making it into them in societally correct percentages. As Andrew Sullivan put it, "Equity means treating individuals unequally so that groups are equal."

True to our founding, I'll continue to try to strike the ideal balance between where excellence meets innovation, grounded by the strong academic ideals that remain a cornerstone of our school.

Is any of this true to Dalton's founding? I think of the school's motto, Go Forth Unafraid, and then I think of parents who can only voice their opinions under the veil of anonymity. 

As a community that has long stood for the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, my hope is that in this at least, we can stand together. To do so we must continue to work alongside one another, to communicate openly, and assume the best of intent from one another. We must model for our students what it takes to learn and change in our constant effort to be a better and stronger community in a better and stronger world.

With gratitude,
Jim Best