Alejandra’s interview with Ms. Bailey took place on November 16, 2023
Ms. Bailey: So, I think the first thing that people might be interested in knowing is that the CCERJ was born of student vision and initiative. The student’s name is Daija Yisrael, class of 2019. She had a vision to find the space in the Upper School that could be used as a multicultural center that would, in her words, highlight and emphasize Potomac’s commitment to diversity and equity. She wanted it to be a gathering place where there could be conversations and where different groups could come together, with the idea of it being multicultural. So Daija partnered with Dr. Sandra Heard, who was a faculty member here for many years and very well respected. And there’s a quotation that we found in an early interview with Dr. Heard, she was a good friend and a history teacher, and you can have this copy, this is actually what we hang on the wall out there. So this is what Dr. Heard said when CCERJ was officially launched.
This is very much the vision that we hope to reanimate and bring back, with our ideas as well about ways that the community has evolved, and what current needs are for our student body and our community. So we’re inspired by Dr. Heard and especially inspired that this all came from a student who said I really think we need a space. So I think that’s kind of neat for people to understand. Dr. Heard left to pursue another opportunity, and the CCERJ went dormant last year. So, it was really her departure that created a void.
Potomac moved to this distributed DEI leadership model. We don’t have one Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion anymore at the school. Every division has its own DEI coordinators and cultural competence curriculum coordinators. Ms. Wills is the lead coordinator, and I’m one of the Upper School DEI coordinators. So the two of us team up as the Upper School DEI coordinators, but she has an elevated role that encompasses all the divisions with DEI, so she works directly with Sarah Beck, who’s the new assistant head of school. So that’s kind of how it works. Ms. Singson is the cultural competence curriculum coordinator. So, there are more people involved now in DEI work. And that means that we can, hopefully, have better alignment about what our goals are and also be more responsive to what our community needs in the way of this kind of opportunity and support. So that’s kind of how CCERJ started, and so this is the first year of the new model, and we’re sort of coming off a year where it went silent, but it was Daija Yisrael and Dr. Heard’s vision that kind of created it in the first place.
Alejandra: One thing that students might not know and is probably something you guys talk about every day but, what would you say is the purpose or the goal of the CCERJ?
Ms. Bailey: So a lot of people don’t know we always welcome people in and actually tell them and try to show them that this is the Center for Community Equity and Social Justice. So sort of what does that mean even? The way we see it is that it is very much a welcoming and inclusive community space. Everyone in the community is welcome. This is a gathering space. I think that what draws people here, we believe, is some kind of shared interest in the importance of everyone feeling a sense of belonging at Potomac. And so, there are groups of friends who come in, who have a shared lived experience and they feel uplifted and affirmed. Being around their peers in that way. People come in because they want to champion causes or issues connected to social justice because they value an inclusive community. And they want to be connected with ways they can uplift others, be an upstander and stand up for people and learn about issues and ways of thinking and being that don’t necessarily connect to their own. So I think we invite anyone to come in, to gather, to be in community, to maybe find another community space where they can step out of regular friend groups, and have a chance to interact with people they don’t necessarily know on a daily basis. Maybe learn something, meet new people. So we think inclusive, kind, welcoming and hopefully uplifting are ways we envision the space. We love it when people stop by and we’re excited about kind of shaping the purpose of this space with our students.
Alejandra: Kind of going off of that, how do you think students can use the CCERJ to meet those goals or, it might be things they’re already doing now, and like, what can they do to continue that?
Ms. Bailey: One of the things that we just started this year is, is what we call, we have a catchy little acronym here, and we’re inviting the students to come up with something better if they like it, but this year, we’ve started a Coalition of Affinity and Alliance Group Leaders. So, we call it CAAGL. And this is a group of leaders from all of the affinity and alliance groups we have at Potomac who are coming together and we’re going to be meeting on a regular basis to talk about exactly that. How can the CCERJ support your affinity or alliance groups? Do you have community events or ideas that we can help you sponsor? And kind of do the legwork that brings them to fruition? So we want to partner with students and really listen to what their hopes are, and what their various groups feel they need and want to contribute to the community and to feel supported and empowered themselves. For example, the Jewish Student Alliance came to us early in the year and asked about building a sukkah around the harvest festival of Sukkot. And we did a lot of learning, it was wonderful. The student leaders, the faculty advisor, have taught us more about the holiday, and we were able to partner with them to figure out how to make this work and to invite anyone in the community to share a meal in the sukkah. It was wonderful. And we’re hoping that more people will find out about it next year, we can partner with the IS and other divisions and invite people over. But we all learn about that particular holiday and tradition. And, and they found really, really good ways to welcome people in. It’s great. Yeah, so we want to do that kind of thing with any group. Mr. Davis is very supportive too with funding, community life funding, and student life efforts. So we want to hear from students.
Alejandra: Awesome. So what kind of specific changes have been made since last year since last year the CCERJ was not in use?
Ms. Bailey: Yes, I think clarity about who the point people are in the Upper School with DEI work. And so I think having a dedicated space where folks know they can find Ms. Wills or Ms. Bailey in this particular space is a big step forward. Ms. Wills, as you know, is a science teacher, and I’m an English teacher. And so we’ve had offices, in various locations with our departments. And it’s not always easy even to be together and to generate ideas and to work with students. So I think having the centralized location, again, is a big step forward for us. And we can start working with students to shape the space in a way that feels best to everyone.
Alejandra: On a less positive note, do you think that students have been using the CCERJ in the way it’s supposed to be used?
Ms. Bailey: Yeah, what s a good question. I think that’s really important. I think last year, it was sort of an off year in the sense that the space’s purpose wasn’t clearly defined. And so students didn’t really know what the purpose was. And I think there were some more relaxed and casual habits about using the space that emerged and that’s understandable, because there wasn’t clarity. And I think that this year, we’ve reconfigured the offices. We’ve changed places out there, where people can gather and sit and we’re more of a regular presence. And so I think what we’ve watched is that different groups of students are coming in to use the space to connect to talk about ideas, to just be, to do their work. So there’s a little bit more purpose and organization than there was. And that’s not to say it isn’t a relaxing space. But I think it has more of a community vibe than just kind of a place where an individual or two could go and lounge. It’s a more purposeful community space, than it is kind of a lounge. We don’t fault students for not really understanding, and I think it just got super relaxed. Yeah. Because no one knew what it was for.
Alejandra: And that’s what differentiates it from like, just going to the library.
Ms. Bailey: Definitely, definitely. And I think the people who hang out here so far, you know, talk and laugh and just enjoy being together. And, you know, they dig into their work, they work on projects, they find a quiet place just to sit. And I think feel comforted that people are around, but also know they can focus on what they’re doing.
Alejandra: Another question would be like, what kinds of conversations have been happening, like, above the CCERJ with you and the other DEI coordinators from other divisions?
Ms. Bailey: We work a lot with Dr. Singleton. He’s in here regularly. And he’s the DEI coordinator for the IS. And so he regularly meets with groups of IS students who are part of various affinity and alliance groups, and introduces them to this space and the Upper School, and lets us kind of know who they are. We talk about connections we can make between our divisions. So there’s actually a lot that’s happening between IS and Upper School because Dr. Singleton and Ms. Wills and I work closely together. He’s terrifically energetic. Yeah. And just is terrific about finding kids in the hallway and saying, come in here, I want you to know about the space and I want you to meet some more people. And just sort of making it feel like a place where folks can come in. Yeah, we really like that. I have enormous respect for Ms. Wills. And I think I value our teamwork very highly. I think we care about each other, and we respect one another. And we extend one another sort of the kindness, of honest feedback. And we’re very much doing the work in partnership. And, it feels good when you feel like you have a teammate that you can be honest with, you can be vulnerable with, and you can really think about what’s in the best interest of the students and partner together in that way. And I think she’s inspiring. And I think the entire DEI program at Potomac is very fortunate to have her vision and leadership.
Alejandra: I guess this is shifting gears a bit but do you think Potomac, like, as a whole makes DEI, like enough of a priority?
Ms. Bailey: What a good question. You know, I think, Alejandra, you’re gonna see with a topic like this, and you could insert other, you know, issues or questions in there and say, is it enough of a priority? There are many people who feel like we can never do enough, right? Because it’s so central to the way they experience Potomac. There are other people who say, we do so much, it’s all around us. And so I think finding that balance is, is where the real work is. How can everyone feel like they are seen, known, heard and valued every day, and they can be their authentic selves. And feel not only that, that’s okay here, but that that’s way more than okay, that’s part of what makes the fabric of the school vibrant and rich and strong. And that’s the kind of community I think we want to be. So personally, I tend to fall on the side of, I want to do more, you know, I always want to do more. And I think the distributed leadership model is helping us move in that direction, because there are more people invested in the work. And unlike when Dr. Heard was here, it doesn’t fall on the shoulders of one person, it’s shared work. So I like that. And I’m always looking for what more we can do and what more I can learn in order to advance the work.
Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for length.
