School re-enrollment contracts will be sent out this month and will include, among other things, the annual tuition increase. Be sure to carefully read the accompanying letter from the head of school announcing what the next school year will bring.
Some schools are starting to realize that censoring non-progressive viewpoints does not prepare students for adulthood, contributes to the rot in higher education, and is terrible for the country.
Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock recently wrote about Dartmouth’s Bottom-Up Approach to Institutional Neutrality and concluded that “Only when institutional neutrality and restraint are embedded throughout American higher education will it be possible for campuses to become true havens of constructive dialogue and free inquiry.”
Deerfield Academy's Head of School, John Austin, responded to this article in a Wall Street Journal Opinion letter titled "Insist on the Difference Between Teaching and Advocacy." He makes the following point:
“For there to be a true renaissance in civic literacy and dialogue, it will need to begin with secondary schools. Unlike universities, secondary schools don’t focus on research and the production of new knowledge. Their purpose is more crucial: to instill civic virtue, shape intellectual character and establish a foundation for the freedoms, rights and responsibilities that students will enjoy as adults.”
Deerfield has taken the lead as K-12 schools grapple with exposing students to a wider range of acceptable viewpoints. Parents would be well served by sharing this framework with their schools.
Before signing the enrollment contract, consider asking the following questions to help make sense of any shifts in your school culture:
Will the school commit to embedding a culture of free expression into its ethos? What steps will it take to do so?
Do enrollment contracts support ideological diversity?
How can parents confirm that students are encouraged to pursue knowledge and objective truth and that teachers support this?
Is DEI being de-prioritized, and will there be a decreased focus on group identity?
What will it take for your school to stop promoting and leave the gender ideology cult?
Can the school encourage people to move on from declaring pronouns?
Are students less interested in being segregated in affinity groups?
Which clubs are students gravitating towards?
Does your school have a Conservative Club? If so, do students feel comfortable showing up? Do they have faculty that supports them?
Here are just a few examples of the offerings found at elite private schools. You might find some new clubs to share:
Harvard Conservative & Republican Student Conference 2025
If you are curious whether there is student demand in college for “viewpoint diversity,” consider attending the second annual CORE Conference, hosted by various Harvard Conservative Clubs and the Harvard Salient, on Saturday, February 8th, at 8:30 AM EST. Last year’s conference sold out a week in advance, and over 230 people attended.
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