Dear Stevens Alumni and Alumni Families,

As many of your know or may be aware, a @blackatstevenscoop Instagram account was created this week. For those not familiar, there has been a movement of "Black@" Instagram accounts being created by alumni and students at many independent schools over the past month or so. The goal is for Black alumni, allies and current students to share their school experiences and amplify their voices.  
 
I am grateful to our community for their bravery in sharing their stories about their own experiences of racism and encourage families to read these posts, which are painful but necessary to hear. I am deeply saddened to read about the pain endured by our students while at Stevens. Together, we are on a journey to be an anti-Black racist, anti racist, and pro equity institution - and that journey never ends. 
 
More than that, I want to take this moment to expressly apologize for the wounds that Stevens has inflicted on members of its Black student body, faculty, staff, and families, as well as other community members of color, present and past. The stories being posted are painful. Therefore, it is imperative, as a community, that we give them our full attention with an open heart. For this reason, at this time, our response is to absorb what we are reading on the @blackatstevenscoop account and continue to learn from what is being shared. We do not plan to comment on each individual post, because this account is a space for our students and alumni that is their own. This is how to understand in new ways how we can do better. 

We would like to invite current black students, black alumni and black alumni families to an online forum. We plan to be back in touch next week with further details about the date, time and format. Additionally, we would like to invite current students, alumni and alumni families who identify as non-black people of color to a forum, which we will also plan to be in touch about next week. 

In the meantime, and as always, I am available to answer any questions or hear specific concerns you may be feeling at this time. 

Sincerely,

Sergio Alati, Ed.D
Head of School