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Executive Director of the Hutchins Center for Race and Social Justice

Employer
The Lawrenceville School
Location
New Jersey, United States
Salary
$103,000.00 - $115,000.00
Date posted
Jun 14, 2021

Leadership Opportunity

 

Executive Director of the Hutchins Center for Race and Social Justice The Lawrenceville School

Lawrenceville, NJ

August 2021 Start                                                                              

                                               

The Lawrenceville School, one of the country’s premier independent schools, seeks an inaugural Executive Director for its new Hutchins Center for Race and Social Justice (HCRSJ). An integral part of The Lawrenceville School’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the HCRSJ will be the first of its kind in secondary education and will provide an interdisciplinary hub for transformational, real-world experiences for the Lawrenceville community and beyond. The School seeks a dynamic, inspiring, and entrepreneurial Executive Director to lead this visionary effort to help dismantle systemic racism and demonstrate Lawrenceville’s institutional commitment to equity and social justice. 

The Executive Director of the HCRSJ has a unique opportunity to help create and lead a well-funded and well-positioned center to “help humanity move toward the day when we can readily separate the light from the darkness,” in the words of the late-great United States Representative John Lewis. With a dedicated space, a budget, an administrative assistant, collaboration with the Assistant Head for Strategic Initiatives and the Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, and full engagement of senior leadership, students, and faculty, the Executive Director will be creative and ground-breaking in establishing programming, initiatives, and partnerships. The vision for the HCRSJ includes encouraging civic engagement on urgent social issues, offering direct access to scholars and leaders, and partnering with institutions across the nation to advance a vision of experiential learning that invites Lawrentians to ask questions that do not yet have answers, pursue original research and writing, and actively seek solutions to some of the greatest societal challenges of our time.

The Executive Director of the HCRSJ will serve as a key campus leader for diversity, equity, and inclusion, reporting to the Assistant Head of School for Strategic Implementation, and also serving on the Department Chairs Committee in order to coordinate fully with academic programming and intellectual life. The Executive Director will benefit from the work of an active DEI Council and a newly released DEI strategic plan, "Belonging, Building Becoming: The Lawrenceville School’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”

The HCRSJ will connect Lawrenceville students, faculty, and staff to a broader context through partnerships with highly respected, action-oriented institutions. Some of the vision for the HCRSJ includes providing opportunities for guided student research, faculty and staff fellowships to conduct scholarly and experiential research, summer studies, and active civic engagement. While the initial focus of the HCRSJ is to  increase understanding and awareness of systemic racism, the purview of the Center will broaden over time to include a full range of initiatives that strengthen each individual’s sense of belonging and self-worth, in both the student and adult community, and therefore the overall quality of the Lawrenceville community.

Under the guidance of the Executive Director, the HCRSJ will connect Lawrenceville students, faculty, and staff to a network of partnerships with action-oriented institutions with shared goals, such as the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. The goal will be to develop opportunities for further learning, collaborative research, and internships.

 

The POSITION:

Strategic Priorities/Opportunities for the Executive Director of the Hutchins Center for Race and Social Justice

  • Establish the inaugural role of Executive Director
  • Help establish and lead the Hutchins Center for Race and Social Justice at Lawrenceville
  • Connect to action-oriented institutions with shared goals from across the nation
  • Help develop the vision for the HCRSJ, expanding its focus over time
  • Create new programs such as student summer internships, faculty and staff fellowships, speaker series, summer institute, scholar in residence program, and opportunities for student research
  • Support the School’s vision of applied, experiential learning through programs and offerings

 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS                       

This is a full-time, 12-month, leadership position with some teaching responsibilities. Primary responsibilities involve developing and launching a robust program that may involve, but is not limited to, the following elements:

Student Research: Create summer opportunities for students to pursue original research questions in the humanities and social studies related to race, ethnicity, and social justice. Modeled after the School’s Hutchins Scholars Program in science, these opportunities could be either internal with a faculty advisor or be done externally under the active sponsorship or guidance of outside historians, writers, and scholars. Students would be invited to take a problem-solving approach to critical issues in our nation and our world: systems of oppression, education, law enforcement, criminal justice, voter-suppression, widening socio-economic gaps, intersectionality, and more. Students would have the opportunity to submit papers for publication in a journal sponsored by the HCRSJ that would feature student, faculty, and staff work.

                                               
Student Summer Internships:  Through partnerships with community organizations focused on societal improvement, community organizing, and social justice, students will be offered real-world opportunities to experience social activism and to develop tools to effect positive change and to shape the world they want to inhabit.

Faculty and Staff Fellowships:
  Support research and writing opportunities for a range of purposes, including traditional scholarship, creative writing, and creating training modules for use within the Lawrenceville  community to educate around various issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Faculty and staff would also have the opportunity to submit papers for publication in the journal sponsored by the HCRSJ.

Curriculum & Course Development:  Support faculty and staff summer study and research aimed at expanding DEI curriculum and course development in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, with a focus on both foundational and elective courses, as well as encouraging curricular innovation.

Speaker Series:  In addition to leveraging The Lawrenceville School’s community resources to launch and sustain a speaker series on race and ethnicity, the HCRSJ will utilize collaborative partners to increase the School’s reach for guest speakers and visiting scholars (e.g., The National Center for Civil & Human Rights). Explore models that might engage students more actively, as opposed to the more passive, traditional model of a required hour lecture with Q&A.

Summer Institute:  Through the HCRSJ, create a nationally recognized leadership retreat for faculty, staff and administration on various topics around diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Scholars in Residence/Visiting Scholars (including Artists-In-Residence):  Create a program of visitorship of varying lengths with scholarly experts, practitioners, and/or artists to either teach/co-teach a course; mentor or guide faculty on curriculum development/curricular innovation; design or oversee an exhibit, artistic endeavor or literary work; and consider other ways to engage these experts and artists in the larger Lawrenceville School community.

 

QUALITIES OF THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HCRSJ

The Executive Director will lead by setting an excellent example of professional conduct, personal commitment, and positive attitude, and in particular, will build rapport with students and faculty in order to engage them and ensure that their presence energizes the HCRSJ and that they are integral to the work being done.

The Executive Director will be a strategic leader and thinker, with an entrepreneurial mindset, and a record of demonstrated success in moving DEI initiatives forward in schools, universities, and/or non-profit organizations.  The Director will be a collaborative leader who can draw on the strengths of others and leverage Lawrencville’s substantial institutional commitment and resources. The Executive Director will be a self-starter who can provide vision, as well as an organized person who can tend to the follow-through required to run programs. 

The Executive Director will be excited to join a boarding school community including the deep commitment to the full lives of the brilliant and hardworking adolescents who make up the student body.  The successful candidate will invest in relationships, possess a strong intellect, be able to multitask, and be a positive, pro-active presence in the community.  Effective communication skills, a sense of humor, a drive to accomplish, and a caring commitment will all serve a candidate well in joining the committed educators at Lawrenceville. 

 

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLS

  • Master's degree (international equivalent or higher)
  • Demonstrated experience developing, implementing, and overseeing programs with either a focus on scholarly research in an academic setting, preferably with a focus on historic inequities with marginalized or disenfranchised groups, the civil rights movement, or current trends in social justice, for example; and/or, demonstrated experience in civic engagement and social activism at the community level, preferably with under-represented and under-resourced populations.
  • Demonstrated experience and an affinity for working with adolescents or college students. In this regard, strong teaching experience, coaching, or residential life experience in a high school or higher education setting are also a plus but not a prerequisite.
  • Strong intellect and level of expertise in a specific discipline, preferably relevant to diversity, equity and inclusion work, such as history or social science, and the ability to understand, celebrate, and be conversant across a broad range of disciplines.
  • Demonstrated problem-solving, crisis management, and conflict resolution skills.
  • Strong cultural competency and experience supporting and encouraging a culture of diversity and inclusion.
  • Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community.
  • Demonstrated excellent written and oral communication, presentation, problem-solving, resolution, and facilitation skills.
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality in all aspects of this position.
  • Demonstrated success in cultivating collaborative relationships with diverse stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, parents, family, and community members.
  • Exceptional work ethic and willingness to work long hours, especially evening and weekends, dictated by students' needs in a residential, 24/7 environment.
  • Sense of humor
  • Willingness to travel as needed.

 

THE SCHOOL                                                         

Founded in 1810, The Lawrenceville School, one of the country’s premier independent schools, is located in central New Jersey, five miles south of Princeton, 55 miles south of New York City, and 40 miles north of Philadelphia. Lawrenceville is co-ed and attracts outstanding students in grades 9-12, plus postgraduate students.

Important features of the School and its culture are the Harkess approach to learning and the House system of residential life. The School’s approach to learning is symbolized by the Harkness table around which students and teachers sit together in discussion. The emphasis is on shared discovery, thinking for oneself, and critical review.  Students at Lawrenceville, and some faculty members, reside in four distinct groups of “Houses” — the Lower School, the Crescent, the Circle, and the Fifth Form (Senior) Houses.

MISSION
Through House and Harkness, Lawrenceville challenges a diverse community  of promising young people to lead lives of learning, integrity, and high purpose.  Our mission is to inspire the best in each to seek the best for all.

MOTTO:  “Forever and for aye.”

The Students:

Lawrenceville’s 818 students come from 32 states and 38 countries/territories, with over 31 percent receiving a total of $13.1 million in financial aid. Across academic, residential, and co-curricular settings, Lawrenceville challenges a diverse community of promising young people to lead lives of learning, integrity, and high purpose, inspiring the best in each to seek the best for all.

The Faculty and Staff:

The Lawrenceville School attracts enthusiastic, energetic, and collegial individuals. Faculty and staff at Lawrenceville are accomplished in their disciplines and very much enjoy working with students in a collaborative, dynamic, demanding, and inclusive academic setting.  More than 90 percent of faculty members hold advanced degrees, and many make direct contributions to their disciplines of teaching as published scholars, scientific researchers, textbook authors, novelists and playwrights, professional musicians and artists, Advanced Placement exam developers, and leading innovators in education.

Geography and Campus                                                                                                

The Lawrenceville School is situated five minutes from Princeton, 40 miles north of Philadelphia, and only 55 miles from New York City.  The School sits upon a beautiful 700 acres created by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead. With extraordinary facilities for living, working and playing on one campus, it gives a wonderful sense of self-containment without being remote. As soon as one leaves the campus, one steps into the village of Lawrenceville. Students frequent places in town such as TJ's Pizza, Fedora's Café, and the Purple Cow ice cream shop.  Probably no other national boarding school enjoys such proximity to so much in the way of cultural opportunities, and the School works hard to help students take advantage of them. Students have access to the Firestone Library, one of the great research libraries in the world, at Princeton University as well as the McCarter Theatre, Jadwin Athletic Center, and Princeton Stadium. Nearby Philadelphia and New York City offer world-class museums, theatre, and art exhibitions, sports, and shopping. Washington, D.C. is accessible by train in just two hours, putting all that the nation's capital has to offer within reach.

Fast Facts:

Total enrollment: 818 students (Boarding 70%; Day 30%)

Student Race/Ethnicity breakdown:  White 45%, Asian 28%, Black 11%, Multi-Racial 8%, Latino 6%, Other 2%

Faculty Race/Ethnicity breakdown:  White:  79%, Black:  11%, Asian: 5%, Non-European Hispanic/Latinx: 5%, Middle Eastern: 1%, Multi-race: 1%

Total Faculty/Administrators:  159

Total Staff:  310

Average Student/Teacher Ratio:  8:1

Financial Aid Budget:  $13.1 million

 

Procedure to Apply

                                                                                                                                                           
The Lawrenceville School is a diverse and inclusive community and makes all employment decisions without regard for an individual’s race, creed, color, religion, national origin, nationality, sex, pregnancy, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability (including AIDS and HIV related illness), genetic information, refusal to provide genetic information, refusal to submit to genetic testing, ancestry, familial status, marital status, domestic partnership status, civil union status, atypical cellular or blood trait, military service, application for military service, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. The Lawrenceville School will also provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals in accordance with applicable law.                           

The Lawrenceville School conducts pre-employment screening for all positions which includes a criminal background check, verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of the background check.

Eligible employees receive a competitive benefit package that includes health insurance coverage, paid leave and retirement plan options and many other valuable programs.

Interested candidates must submit the following materials confidentially via http://bit.ly/ED-of-HCRSJ-Lville-School in one PDF attachment that includes in the following order:

  • Cover letter expressing interest in the Lawrenceville School Executive Director of the HCRSJ
  • Current résumé
  • Statement of educational philosophy and practice
  • List of three references including name, title, phone number, email address, and professional relationship (references are contacted only with the candidate's permission)
  • Other optional supporting material may also be included if informative (e.g., articles, speeches, writing samples, or letters of recommendations)

Please email any questions to jobs@strategenius.org or by phone to Orpheus Crutchfield at (510) 685-0861.

 

Search Calendar*

Applications Due                                                 June 28, 2021

Semifinalist Interviews                                         July 19-22, 2021

Finalist Interviews                                                July 26-29, 2021

Announcement                                                    August 5, 2021

 *Approximate dates, suject to change

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