by Lauren Mahomes, Staff Writer

graphic by Alexa Kutler

The school shares its diversity program on a local and national level.

The all school diversity committee puts together a presentation for interested schools to promote the structure and organization of the program and the principles of the school’s mission statement: “Greenhill School is a diverse community of learners that strives for excellence; values individuality; fosters passion for learning; promotes the balanced development of mind, body and character; encourages service; and instills a respect for others.”

The different levels of the diversity program are made up of administrators Karen Bradberry, director of multicultural programs; Scott Griggs, Head of School; division level diversity coordinators; and Parents’ Association Diversity Committee.

All of the levels of the program facilitate events and issues and promote open-mindedness for the major cultural identifiers of race, religion, ability, gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and socio-economic status.

The different levels of the program allow for open discussion with all members of the community.

The diversity program has gained recognition from Parish Episcopal School, Hockaday School, Prestonwood Christian Academy, and the Episcopal School of Dallas.

The diversity committee meets with these schools, discusses the program, and helps mold a program that fits the other schools’ specific needs.

In the case of the Prestonwood Christian Academy, the committee helped its administration adopt methods for sucess.

Jenny Brady is the director of diversity and a Spanish teacher at Prestonwood Christian Academy. “The committee structure of the Multicultural program at Greenhill gave us insight into the many areas of diversity in a private school setting. We have since followed [Greenhill’s] programs and developed parent, faculty, and
student committees along with an All School Diversity Committee,” she said.

The diversity program began with Bernard Fulton, founder of the school, who set aside a budget for financial aid. He and Joe Gonzalez developed the program in 1967.

“Unlike some independent schools, Greenhill can say that creating a diverse community has been at the forefront of all our planning because Mr. Fulton, our founder, requested a financial aid budget before setting the school’s overall budget, thus creating an avenue for us to embrace socio-economic diversity,” said Dr. Bradberry. “Diversity has been a pattern in the fabric of the school’s culture since the very beginning.” 

Getting other schools to the point where they can talk about diversity issues is one of Dr. Bradberry’s aims.

“If these issues were more openly addressed [at Hockaday] instead of never discussed, we could take out these close-minded thoughts, we could be able to get away from this otherization mindset,” said Berenice Villela, a sophomore at Hockaday School.

The diversity committee believes that the diversity program is far from perfect but taking productive steps in the right direction.
“I feel joyous to be able to share our diversity program with other schools, to be a model where other academic institutions can look to build a diverse community. Spreading the spirit of the integration of our diverse backgrounds is all about a celebration of our differences,” said junior Omar Thanawalla, student representative of the All School Diversity Committee.