At the Feb 20 New Trier Board of Education meeting, parents and students voiced concerns over the last-minute cancellation of activities for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), usually observed January 27th, that had been planned by students and faculty. Instead, a statement was read to students over the PA system.
For several days leading up to the board meeting, the school had received communication from Jewish families regarding the poor handling of the cancellation of IHRD activities, as well as concerns about rising anti-Semitism.
Before hearing public comments, Superintendent Paul Sally made a statement taking responsibility for the cancellation and pledging to solve the problem by being more intentional about including the Jewish community in its "equity" work (a.k.a. DEI - Diversity Equity and Inclusion).
The League of Women Voters and other community members were on hand to state support for New Trier's equity work.
We are heartened to see parents standing up for their kids, their religion and their values. Otherwise, issues go unaddressed. We also give credit to Mr. Sally in recognizing the school's error.
But the answer is not to expand DEI. If anything, as we wrote a few weeks ago, New Trier needs to disband its DEI programming, along with its anti-Semitic, divisive "oppressor/oppressed" message.
When you assign status based on race or other immutable characteristics, you create a climate of division and groupthink, not a welcoming environment for learning. And DEI does not help the truly marginalized, as Pastor Corey Brooks wrote recently in Tablet.
It is time for New Trier to retire is DEI programs and focus on using the Golden Rule as the guide for how to treat one another with dignity and respect. That will help the district get back to teaching all kids rigorous academics that help them become critical, independent thinkers.
Famed New York University professor and author Jonathan Haidt, who for many years was unwilling to reject DEI completely, did so recently at a University of North Carolina event.
As former New York Times writer and founder of The Free Press Bari Weiss recently wrote:
“It is time to end DEI for good.”
