Good Morning De La Salle Institute community. With less than 100 signatures away from 1,000 I wanted to share some points that I got from the Meet ad Greet zoom call with the new president Thomas Schergen. (an email was sent out early yesterday about it and it was intended for incoming parents)

While I sat and listened, I found it concerning that the beginning of the call Father Paul said " if you have an ulterior motive to calling in other than to Meet our new principal then I'm sorry this isn't the call for that."

In Mr. Schergen's initial statement he made points of trying to have the best transition possible for the students and creating spaces for open and enriching conversations. He specifically said that he wanted to make sure that the curriculum is "culturally relevant."

Following his statements, the chat was opened for questions from which questions of this incident were asked. Father Paul addressed the initial post being taken down saying that it was taken down because " they made their point and wanted to continue highlighting the students' accomplishments." He continued to on to say that the matter is being and has been handled and legally "cannot be discussed with the general public" however " information will be forthcoming." He also said that earlier that afternoon they released a statement on the website as well as sent a letter to CURRENT students addressing how the school was handling the situation. HE EMPHASIZED THAT THERE IS NO HIDDEN AGENDA (yea ok).

The letter stated the following bullet points in addition to a few blanket statements De La Salle Institute will be initiating the following actions.

● Our Board of Directors has initiated a task force to address the issues of race and culture.

● Professional development on cultural diversity for all members of the De La Salle faculty and staff and student body.

● Engage our strategic partners, parents, alumni and friends in facilitated small group conversations.

● The task force will recommend and facilitate an action plan.

As you can see OUR VOICES, OUR APPLIED PRESSURE is being recognized and action is being taken. IS THIS ENOUGH? ABSOLUTELY NOT. WE WILL CONTINUE TO APPLY PRESSURE UNTIL THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY IS ADDRESSED ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS AND EFFECTIVE CHANGE IS DISPLAYED. Continue sharing, continue voicing your concerns!