When jamele adams (adams prefers his name to be uncapitalized) was first commissioned as the school’s director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2021, I (then a middle school student) initially didn’t give it much thought — it seemed like just another position created as a result of politics that I didn’t fully understand.
However, after his position was abruptly eliminated earlier this month, I’ve begun to truly appreciate the unique impact that adams’s work has had on Scituate students. As a member of a majority in Scituate (I am a white male), I did not at first consider the inspiring and affirming effect that his position must have had on students who were members of a minority. I have numerous friends and acquaintances in the LGBTQ community in Scituate, and I have heard much from them about how adams helped all students to feel more accepted and, most importantly, safe at SHS.
There is clearly significant public support for DEI programs in Scituate. At the October 20th school committee meeting, the routine 15-minute public commentary time needed to be extended to a full hour due to numerous community members voicing their appreciation for adams’s work in Scituate and their disappointment at his position’s removal.
Support for adams and the DEI program among students — those most affected by this change — is further evidenced by the school walkout this past Friday (October 31st). The walkout was very well planned and executed; since it happened during a WIN block, there was minimal disruption to learning, and students peacefully congregated outside the school building and gave inspirational speeches advocating for kindness and unity before returning to class in time for the last period — all in all, an admirable and thoughtful exercise of students’ First Amendment rights.
Considering this substantial public support, Scituate’s pioneering commitment to DEI programs is unsurprising; Scituate was among the first districts in Massachusetts to institute a position specifically dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, in part because of this extensive previous commitment, the timing and lack of transparency surrounding the decision to eliminate adams’s position leads one to wonder if federal pressure played a role. The Trump administration has been vocal in its opposition to DEI programs and has threatened to withhold federal funding from schools that don’t comply. Even though less than 2% of Scituate’s funding comes from the federal government, it seems possible that political pressure precipitated the decision.
I don’t pretend to know why the district made this choice, or even whose choice it was. I am hopeful that whoever it was made a difficult choice to the best of their ability, given the information available to them, and depending on the circumstances, a lack of transparency could be understandable.
The school committee, in its prepared statement, was adamant that the change did not represent a shift away from DEI initiatives. However, I think that regardless of why this change was made, it’s important for decision-makers to be aware of the way the sudden decision to eliminate the DEI position and make the program a subset of a vague “social-emotional learning” umbrella, without time for community or student input, appears to the community–especially to students of color or LGBTQ students. I can imagine, if I were a minority, feeling very anxious about whether the district’s policy of supporting diversity among the student body is changing.
I attended the November 3rd school committee meeting, where they reviewed the job description for the new “Director of Support, Engagement and Advocacy.” Although in its statement at the meeting the school committee expressed a desire to rebuild trust in the community and claimed that the new position would strengthen DEI by embedding it throughout the district rather than having it ‘siloed’ in only one position, it remains to be seen whether actual DEI work gets buried beneath the multitude of other items in the new job description, including working with data analysis of student surveys and implementing digital literacy as part of a broader social-emotional learning curriculum.
I think I speak for a large portion of the community when I say that the committee’s actions are confusing. Much of the criticism of the initial DEI program cited its vague, difficult-to-measure goals, and it’s hard to see how relegating DEI to just one of many duties of an even more nebulous position will help address that problem.
Nonetheless, I feel that speculation about the district’s motivation for removing adams’s position is not productive right now; instead, the next step forward is for the decision-makers to clearly demonstrate that the district still supports important values of tolerance, inclusion, and kindness that adams represented for so many in our community. I believe they can accomplish this by earnestly continuing to pursue DEI programs and services that have clearly made inestimable impacts on the students who most need it.
Planning the new structure of DEI in Scituate should be done deliberately, as the position is not yet finalized. There is plenty of opportunity to bring in community and, crucially, expert opinions to develop an effective, evidence-based, and field-proven DEI curriculum.
A vital part of this plan will be tolerance of different perspectives and reasonable, good-faith discourse about DEI programs. Especially in a predominantly left-leaning community like Scituate, those with reasonable concerns about programs supported by the majority can often be ‘canceled’ and silenced. No program is without its flaws, and suppression of criticism is not conducive to long-term success; tolerance must be present on both sides. For example, many critics of DEI worry that programs are encroaching on academic learning time. We can address these concerns by ensuring that students continue to receive a high-quality academic education.
We should continue DEI programs in Scituate, actively developing them and making changes as necessary while considering input from many perspectives, expert and otherwise. Our policymakers can prove their earnest, continued commitment to DEI initiatives by defining a clear structure for them in our schools.
For mr. adams: We students truly appreciate the impact you made on our school, and we miss your enthusiastic and friendly presence at SHS. We will work to continue building on the foundation you created for our town.