Diversity Day 2025: Welcome from the Head of School and Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Head of School Jennifer Borman '81 and Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion D. Clinton Williams set the stage for Diversity Day 2025 by reminding the crowd about the event's origins—founded by Commonwealth students almost two decades ago—and its ongoing significance.
Related: Watch the Diversity Day 2025 highlight reel.
Welcome from Head of School Jennifer Borman '81
Welcome to Diversity Day. I’m glad to be here—and eager to hear from the many voices that will shape today’s conversations.
In the twelve months since our last Diversity Day, our country’s policies have shifted dramatically. In some corners of America, "diversity" is now a forbidden word and an illegal practice. Colleges, schools, businesses, and government agencies have pulled back on efforts to recognize our varied identities, particularly for groups who have been historically marginalized.
We at Commonwealth, by contrast, are as committed as ever to our diversity work. We have tried to create a school that includes students of different ethnicities, races, family backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, religions, political persuasions, and cultural traditions. We are relatively insulated from the political and legal pressures that have forced the hands of so many other schools and institutions. And so we begin today with joy and gratitude for the opportunity to gather for Diversity Day.
Our founder, Charles Merrill built a commitment to access and opportunity into the DNA of Commonwealth. Those values continue to be crucial today. They are rooted in justice and are also rooted in our commitment to learning. Our education here is vastly expanded if we learn with and from those who have had different life experiences.
Throughout the sixty-eight years that Commonwealth has existed, our commitment to diversity hasn’t wavered, but that doesn’t mean we have we always perfectly practiced our ideals. Do we continue to strive to be better? Yes, and that’s why our time together today is so important. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are ideals that we need to focus on 365 days a year, but today, in particular, we can open our hearts and expand our horizons.
Today would not have happened, however, without so many people in this room stepping up. I want to thank you. And in particular, I want to thank Mr. Williams for his skilled leadership and his inclusive approach to planning all that awaits us. With that, I joyfully turn things over to him.
Related: Meet Commonwealth Staff: D. Clinton Williams, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Welcome from Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion D. Clinton Williams
For nearly twenty years, the Commonwealth community has gathered on this day to celebrate our rich diversity, to educate one another about our differences, our intersections, and the many overlapping similarities that connect us. Diversity Day is our annual pause, a day when we step away from our normal schedule to listen, to reflect, and to learn from each other’s lived experiences.
Look around you. There are nearly 200 individuals in this room—and more than 200 ways of seeing and engaging with the world, of imagining what a more equitable and just Commonwealth, and a more equitable and just world, could look like.
The theme for Diversity Day 2025 is “One School, Many Stories.” It’s a reminder that every person here contributes a unique thread to the fabric of Commonwealth. Each of us brings our own cultural experiences to school every day. Our identities travel with us: on the commuter rail from Weston, on the T from Malden, Cambridge, or Dorchester. We pack our experiences with us to Hancock, carry them into our classrooms and our Jobs Program, and they remain with us as we move through the halls of this building. It’s through all these journeys, all these stories, that we become one school.
But diversity in numbers alone isn’t enough. The real work—the ongoing work—is creating a path toward inclusion and belonging.
Commonwealth’s goal has never been simply to increase the number of students, faculty, or staff who are Black, Brown, Asian American, LGBTQ+, or from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. That’s important, but it’s only the beginning.
Earlier this fall, the City of Boston class read Mary Pattillo’s essay “The Problem of Integration.” In it, Pattillo—who grew up in Milwaukee’s school desegregation busing program—challenges the idea that integration is the ultimate goal. She argues that “promoting integration as the means to improve the lives of Black people stigmatizes Blackness and Black spaces, and valorizes Whiteness as the symbol of opportunity and the measuring stick for equality.” For Pattillo, “integration is a strategy to achieve equality—not the substance of equality itself.”
Some of us live in communities targeted by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. For others, the meals Chef Dethie prepares for lunch might be the last one of the day. Some of us worry about our safety on the T because of who we are, because we identify as trans, lesbian, gay, or nonbinary. In a world like that, Commonwealth becomes an island of clarity in a sea of confusion. We are not perfect, but we strive, every day, to do what is right and what is just.
At Commonwealth, we recognize the power of diversity. But we also know that diversity alone is not justice. We understand that inclusion, empathy, and belonging must be cultivated every day—in every class, every conversation, and every community space. That commitment goes back to the very founding of this school. It’s woven into our mission. We see the beauty of that tapestry everywhere: In Classics of World Cinema, in U.S. History and Policy, in the languages we teach. In English classes that read Maxine Hong Kingston, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Gwendolyn Brooks, Derek Walcott. In classes like Empires and Nationalism or The Science of Materials. And in the student-led clubs and affinity groups that build community—FAM, GSA, the Latino-Hispanic Association, and so many more.
In this past summer's issue of CM, Ms. Borman wrote: "What are we doing in the face of what feels like an assault on our core values? We’re doing some of what we’ve always done, with more force and intention: teaching students about the complexities of American history; engaging with the theme of immigration in our summer reading; empowering students to find their voices and use them to better our world."
We have a rich, vibrant diversity here. And yet, we still stumble. Harm still occurs in our halls. Insensitive jokes are made. Mansplaining still shows up in STEM classes. Sexist or hurtful language appears in group chats and blog posts. We are not immune from the broader currents shaping our country: the attacks on democracy, the assaults on immigrants, the rollback of rights for LGBTQ+ people, the withholding of food benefits that leave families hungry.
For some of us, these are not abstract political issues—they’re daily realities.
Some of us live in communities targeted by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. For others, the meals Chef Dethie prepares for lunch might be the last one of the day. Some of us worry about our safety on the T because of who we are, because we identify as trans, lesbian, gay, or nonbinary. In a world like that, Commonwealth becomes an island of clarity in a sea of confusion. We are not perfect, but we strive, every day, to do what is right and what is just.
So today, I invite you to soak in the beauty of this community. Talk to someone you haven’t spoken with before. Try something new at the Family Food Festival. Listen to someone’s story—and share your own. In short, use today as a kind of “close reading” of our community. Analyze it, question it, appreciate it. And most of all, enjoy it.
Because this is Commonwealth. One school. Many stories.