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On Tuesday June 2nd, two vile photos of Mount Saint Mary Academy students were brought to the attention of the community. One photo was of student ℅ 2022 seen in blackface. The other is of another student ℅ 2022 using a homophobic slur. On Saturday June 6th, another student ℅ 2022 was also seen in a photograph using blackface. Mount Saint Mary Academy is an institution that prides themselves on creating young women with a moral and intellectual foundation rooted in Catholic tradition. Mount Saint Mary Academy, is a member school of the Sisters of Mercy. The school teaches mercy values, which are the following: Recognition of the Intrinsic Worth and Dignity of Each Person, Excellence and Quality, Hospitality, The Courage to Innovate and the Freedom to Make Mistakes, Compassion, Mercy, and Justice, Service to the Poor, Sick, and Uneducated, Response to Need, The Worth and Need of a Sound Education in the Total Effort of Leading Students to the Truth, and Respect for Varied Religious Traditions and Beliefs. Clearly, the values that the school tries to instill in the students are not resonating within their hearts as they should. Mount Saint Mary Academy should be a place where all students, regardless of race, sexuality, socio-economic status, religion, and disability, feel safe to attend and learn. The actions of these three young ladies are repulsive and not representative of the Mercy values that MSM attempts to teach. However, these girls are not alone in compromising the learning environment. These actions hold a mirror to the pain and hurtful memories that for some alumni and current students, and in turn, become a direct reflection of Mount Saint Mary Academy. Though the school does not outwardly praise racism and hate speech, its subliminal support translates through the actions of the school and certain members of the faculty, as well as their students that they claim to prepare for college and life beyond. Mount Saint Mary Academy attempts to have these conversations for junior and senior Mount students within Theology class, yet students and certain faculty still perpetuate overt or subvert racism. There is no space for Black and Brown girls to celebrate themselves either. There are no events or schoolwide programs for Black History Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, or Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. One of these direct reflections of the hurtful memories was the lack of a personal and heartfelt statement from MSM in the wake of recent racial injustices, such as the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Amaud Arbery. Instead, what was posted was a recycled and rehearsed picture issued by the national headquarters of the Sisters of Mercy and a black box. Though the population of Black students at Mount Saint Mary Academy is small, they still exist. Current Black students have felt no comforting presence from their Alma Mater, nor a call or a message to see about the current mental and emotional state of possible turmoil that they could be feeling at this time. Mount has a history of making the POC students out to be the “poster children” for the school. Having them pose in promotional photographs, talking to middle schools to encourage enrollment at the Mount, etc., yet the promotion of these students heavily outweighs the love and care after the picture is taken.The population of white students is indeed bigger than the population of POC. Even though they attempt to foster diversity through smiling pictures of multicultural faces, this false advertisement of diversity comes off as pandering to an audience that is not appreciated after they enroll to be students at Mount. The only time MSM really makes an effort to have discussions about race, diversity and injustice is in the upperclassmen theology classes. It has to go beyond that. It has to be better than that. Clearly from the actions of the three students, there needs to be earlier and more open dialogue concerning these issues. 

There are some teachers at the Mount Saint Mary Academy that fight tooth and nail to make sure that all students in the classroom feel accepted and respected. However, not all faculty do the same. The clashing of personal opinions within the curriculum are very present. While it is valuable to hear and learn about their teachers personal history and connections to the school, it can also clash with the education, which at the end of the day is the whole reason the school exists. These personal opinions also appear as microaggressive comments and met with retaliation. In turn, students are either punished for speaking out, as Mount so often advertises that their students do, or are made to feel ignorant by the teachers themselves by calling them “sensitive”. Students do not deserve to learn in such an environment. Insensitivity training can benefit every single faculty member. Rather than “shut down” students who want to discuss why the school teaches certain things, encourage them to speak out and have an open dialogue on issues. Another point of improvement for the faculty and staff is to add a counselor who looks like the girls that are not well represented. The hiring of a trained counselor who is a woman of color can help bridge that gap and make many POC students who have issues feel comfortable and respected while talking about them.

We call upon the administration of Mount Saint Mary Academy to fulfill the following very reasonable and doable requests: 

• The Expulsion of the three girls who committed these hateful acts
• A Public apology from MSM 
• Insensitivity training of faculty that will include: how to have open discussion about race, sexuality, social injustice etc., how to properly diffuse situations, and the dealing of personal opinions clashing with the learning environment 
• A set of strict rules that faculty most follow, that include a three strike rule (First Offense: Warning, Second Offense: Suspension w/ no pay, Third Offense: Termination of contract)
• Hiring of a female, poc counselor.   
• Discrimination statement protecting girls of all religions, sexual orientation, disability and race to be included in handbook 
  • Explicitly say that students partaking in any hate speech or violence committed against other students will be punished

With each signature of this petition, the voices of the current students of color and alumni of color are amplified louder and louder.

Thank you for your time and signature,

Karina Singh ‘19, Leah Paige ‘18, and other concerned students and alumni of Mount St. Mary Academy