At this GUS Parents’ Meeting we will have a conversation about our community summer read, Admissions, by Kendra James.
Admissions provides an opportunity for us to expand upon our conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion work at GUS, and we hope it will serve as a mirror, window, and/or sliding door for all members of the GUS community.
We will begin at 6:30 pm with time for refreshments and mingling, and will hold our conversation from 7:00-8:00 p.m. The conversation will be facilitated by Sara Wilson P’29, who is a member of our Board DEI Committee, as well as Brad Belin, Katie Chhu, and Emily Rabinowitz-Buchanan.
Though having read Admissions will be helpful during this meeting, it is not necessary in order to participate in the conversation. During the conversation, we will discuss themes from the book that connect to the GUS mission and that will resonate with all members of our community, and allow for reflective conversations. Our discussion will touch on themes such as independent schools (benefits, challenges, and motivations for choosing one), how we think about access and belonging at GUS, and how we define racism and talk about racist incidents as adults and with our children.
This will be the first Parents Association community meeting of the year, and we hope to see many parents in attendance! If you would like to read and/or become familiar with the themes in Admissions, there are a few ways you can do it:
Purchase Admissions, and/or borrow it from Emily RB (she has extra copies in her Lower School office) or your local library.
Listen to Admissions as an audiobook
Listen to this podcast interview with Kendra James about the themes in Admissions: "Surviving Boarding School as a Black Student" (WNYC)
Read this NYTimes review of Admissions: A Black Graduate of an Elite Boarding School Gets Real
This meeting is open to all members of the GUS community. We hope to see you there!