The following letter was shared with the entire Eaglebrook community on June 3, 2020.

Dear Eaglebrook Community,

“Stay safe” was a shared greeting during April and May when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our regular lives. Now, staying safe takes on a more urgent meaning. We are forced to grapple with the injustice of the senseless killings of Black Americans, the legacy of our country’s history of enslavement, and centuries of racial discrimination.

 

Protest - peaceful and violent - in this nation and in cities around the world tell us the time is now for moral leadership to end racial injustice. Leadership can be individual and simple, attending a protest, giving a donation, having a deep and serious conversation about the artificial divide created by racial oppression.

 

Middle school students are ready for this conversation. At Eaglebrook, we encourage our students to respect the rights and dignity of everyone in our community, to act with thoughtfulness and humanity, and to help create a safe and healthy place to live and learn.

 

The Eaglebrook family is a family of the world. One thing we know is that our connections make us stronger. We draw on that strength to support one another and to realize that we as individuals can make positive changes.

 

This summer the Summer Connections and Summer Welcome groups will offer programs for students to have conversations that discuss racial healing, that discuss the kind of world that they want to help create, that discuss the need to do the right thing.

 

To each of you – alumni and families past, current, and new to Eaglebrook – Rachel and I send warm wishes and want you to know that the compassion and empathy of the young people we are educating offer hope for a more just world.