Inaugural Director of Equity and Inclusion Appointed at Exeter

Exeter appointed Dr. Stephanie Bramlett as the school’s first Director of Equity and Inclusion on Tuesday, April 17. The Academy first identified a Director of Equity and Inclusion as a necessary addition to the Principal’s Staff six years ago, and created a search committee for someone to fill this role two years ago.

Difficulties in the search for appropriate candidates, however, stalled the selection committee until March. After deliberating between two candidates, the school chose Bramlett, who previously worked for St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, Connecticut, as the first Director of Equity and Inclusion.

“Dr. Bramlett’s plate is full, but the first work she’ll need to do is to learn about Exeter.  She’s going to bring a wealth of knowledge to the school and I’m very excited to have her.” Richter said.

Sociologist and political scientist Bramlett will join Exeter’s faculty on July 1st. According to Principal MacFarlane’s campus-wide email, her role includes reporting to the principal and working closely to “fulfill the Trustee Vision Statement for diversity, equity and inclusion across campus.”

Bramlett will also be responsible for building, guiding and assessing the policies and practices that encourage these values. The Director of Equity and Inclusion Position Profile states that Bramlett will work closely with the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, the Dean of Students, the Director of Human Resources and the Dean of Multicultural Affairs. 

At St. Luke’s, Bramlett drafted a “road map for inclusivity” through the Vision for Inclusive Excellence. Her experience with inclusion and equity also includes her founding of the Mindfulness in Education Conference and the Social Justice Leadership Summit. She served as chair of Connecticut’s  Commission on Diversity in Independent Schools. Prior to her tenure at St. Luke’s, Bramlett worked closely with marginalized students in a college setting, including low-income college students in the TRIO and McNair Scholars programs.          

According to Lavina Richter, co-chair of the selection committee, Bramlett will be a valuable asset to the school because of her prior experiences implementing equity and inclusion initiatives and programs in different educational settings. Her selection by Principal MacFarlane came after meetings with the committee, examination of additional references and direct interviews.

“Dr. Bramlett’s plate is full, but the first work she’ll need to do is to learn about Exeter.  She’s going to bring a wealth of knowledge to the school and I’m very excited to have her.” Richter said.

During her question and answer session in the forum, Bramlett impressed Exonians with her attention to students. “She’s a very engaging person who listened to our questions attentively, asked for our names and really seemed to care,” senior Chi-Chi Ikpeazu said. “When students had a question about different levels of faculty interest in addressing diversity, equity and inclusion, she acknowledged that faculty [members] have different experiences and we have to recognize those inconsistencies. That stood out to me.”

Ikpeazu hopes that with her focus on faculty accountability, the director will “bridge [the] gap between those who are aware and those who are not” and create an environment so that everyone will be able to enjoy their Exeter experience, regardless of their identity.

Lower Tatum Schutt was similarly struck by Bramlett’s ability to connect with everyone in the room. “My hope is that she will address the ALES requests from last year,” Schutt said. “She also stressed the dire need for faculty equity training, which would enable teachers to recognize their privilege and power as bystanders or activists.” Schutt felt that Dr. Bramlett’s appointment will aid faculty discussions about race and other sensitive topics.

Meanwhile, upper Daniel Kang stressed the importance of having a person who would understand “multiracial, multifaceted issues.” This was especially important to Kang since one of his main concerns is how many on-campus discussions have been about “black-and-white issues,” leaving out the needs of the Asian community.

Given Bramlett’s past experience, the selection committee hopes that she will push towards intersectionality as the standard for new initiatives on campus, which will take into account how race, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, religion, ability and socioeconomic class all affect how adults and students interact with each other.

Cary Einhaus, another selection committee member, had high hopes for Bramlett. He said, “She has a ‘big tent’ vision of this work about equity and inclusion, which I believe will be a benefit in helping us listen to each other better, in building a stronger Exeter community.”