DEI Director Hopefuls Vie for New Role

The Academy has narrowed its search for Exeter’s first Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) to two candidates: Stephanie Bramlett of the St. Luke’s School in New York and Rasheda Carroll of the Wildwood School in Los Angeles. Principal Lisa MacFarlane employed a group of administrators to create a job description in the fall of 2016. Both candidates currently serve as the Director of DEI or equivalent at their respective institutions.

According to co-chair of the DEI Search Committee Dean Sami Atif, the Director of DEI will work closely with the Principal, Assistant Principal, Dean of Faculty, Dean of Students, CFO and Director of Admissions and Involvement on the principal leadership team at Exeter. In addition, the director will work closely with the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and on independent projects across campus. The administration believes that the arrival of this administrator is an important step in making the campus a more inclusive environment for all. 

The initial search, however, was unsuccessful. “After last year, we didn’t feel as though we had a strong candidate pool,” explained search committee co-chair and Academic Technology Coordinator Lavina Richter. “So we took the opportunity to regroup and look back at the job description and talk to the administration again,” Richter said.

Richter, MacFarlane, Vice Principal Karen Lassey, Dean of Faculty Ellen Wolff and Human Resources Director Rachel Henry considered the mismatches between last year’s candidates and the committee’s goal. “A new committee was formed, one composed of people in the Exeter community more familiar with searching for directors similar to what Exeter wanted.” In addition to Atif and Richter, the committee includes Henry, Instructor of Modern Languages Amadou Talla, Coach Bruce Shang, Dean of Residential Life Arthur Cosgrove, Associate Director of College Counseling Cary Einhaus, Coach Toyin Augustus and Trustee Jackie Hayes.    

Within a few weeks, the committee found Bramlett and Carroll. The candidates visited Exeter on Monday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 21, respectively, and toured the campus, interviewed and met with students and faculty.      

The student meetings took place during Department Meeting on Monday for Bramlett and lunchtime on Wednesday for Carroll. Exonians asked the potential Directors of DEI questions and voiced their needs for the candidate who fills the position.

Lower Lilly Pinciaro, who attended both meeting sessions, was particularly interested in Bramlett’s plans to communicative with the students. “She was very interested in including the opinions of students in all of the decisions, if possible,” she said. “She understands that there will be decisions that cannot involve students, and because of that she said that when she makes decisions she will be very transparent and explain to students why those decisions were made.”

Senior Chi Chi Ikpeazu, who also attended both sessions, agreed that Bramlett “really spoke to her ability to make herself available for students.” On Carroll, Ikpeazu explained that her qualification for the job came from the fact that she could empathize through her own experiences. Ikpeazu also added that Carroll spoke about steps she had already taken at her current employment position to further the missions of diversity, equity and inclusion. “That was really helpful because we as students were able to see which projects and plans she would implement at Exeter,” Ikpeazu said.