Request from 'Iolani Alumni Community

Dear Dr. Cottrell and ‘Iolani School,

We are writing in response to your recent statement that was distributed via email and social media. As you suggest in your letter, this is the time to take the courage to hold our community accountable to the values that we strive to live by.

While seemingly well-intentioned, the letter was littered with problematic semantics, but our primary concern is the equivocation and avoidance of naming the issue: the plight and violence against the Black community in the United States. These “current events” are human rights issues -- with insidious roots that go deep into the history and present state of our country and education system, ‘Iolani School not excluded. We, as alumni who have invested years of education at ‘Iolani and beyond, ask you -- where do you stand?

We request action on the following points.

Students and School Climate
Form a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee composed of faculty, staff, and students.

Reassess scholarship distribution and programs to be more equitable to students from marginalized backgrounds.

School leaders should address the student body multiple times a year regarding issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Curriculum
Infuse anti-bias/anti-racist education and social justice education into required courses.

Faculty
Mandate diversity and equity training and professional development for all faculty and staff, specifically addressing anti-bias/anti-racist education.

Prioritize hiring and retention of faculty of color and of other marginalized identities. Investigate best practices for equitable recruitment.

Community
Outreach and consult alumni who demonstrate a commitment to social justice, both personally and professionally, to expose students to a diversity of life paths.

As bell hooks (1994) writes in Teaching to Transgress, “When education is the practice of freedom, students are not the only ones who are asked to share, to confess… Any classroom that employs a holistic model of learning will also be a place where teachers grow, and are empowered by the process. That empowerment cannot happen if we refuse to be vulnerable while encouraging students to take risks (p. 21).” ‘Iolani School is an institution of immense influence, resources, and prestige. We are proud to be alumni. We ask you to take the risk and stand with us, unequivocally, to serve and model to our youth the values our society sorely needs: equity, justice, and reparation. Black lives matter.


In solidarity,

The ‘Iolani Alumni Community