BUILDING TRANSFORMATIVE ALUMNI CONNECTIONS
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robotics and vaccine science ( just two of the fields in which the Panther Mentors are currently engaged ). I do not think that any of this would be possible had we not proactively attempted to engage with our disconnected alums , knowing that what we were going to hear was going to be challenging . When a couple of the Mentors addressed the faculty at a faculty meeting , many came to have a deeper understanding of what it meant to be “ the first ” or “ the only ” and leaned into these men ’ s tales of the gulf between their lived experiences and those of their white classmates .
Most compelling to me was just how strong the Panther Mentors ’ bonds were to Browning , how easily they recalled teachers who had mentored them , and how proud they felt walking into our building on East 62nd in a coat and tie each day . Each of these men could easily recall experiences at Browning that made them into the men they are now , and each looked at our school as having taught them values that remain strong in their lives today . Their easy connection with each other across time and space — and through boxes on a Zoom screen — speaks powerfully to the culture that we seek to foster at our school .
As a school built upon relationships , it might seem completely intuitive that we took the approach of proactively reaching out to these alumni amid racial tumult within the independent school sector . But it was far from that . Opening the door to
When a couple of the Mentors addressed the faculty at a faculty meeting , many came to have a deeper understanding of what it meant to be ‘ the first ’ or ‘ the only ’ and leaned into these men ’ s tales of the gulf between their lived experiences and those of their white classmates .
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honest feedback from those who know you best is fraught , as anyone who has a family knows , but how could we live our school values of honesty , dignity , curiosity , and purpose if we did not ask to be enlightened about what we did wrong and what we failed to do ? How could we “ do better ” if we didn ’ t “ know better ?” Whether the hurt was caused a year ago , or 50 years ago , we wanted to make it right , and to move forward after having repaired that harm as much as possible .
Recently , I was chairing a conference where I was in conversation with a professor who had written a book on Black philanthropy .
Page 24 Summer 2022 CSEE Connections