After four years as Choate’s Director of Equity and Inclusion, Dr. Hinderlie is leaving his position. Photo courtesy of Hinderlie and Associates
In early March, Director of Equity and Inclusion Dr. Keith Hinderlie announced that he will not be returning to Choate for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Since 2016, as Choate’s inaugural Director of Equity and Inclusion, Dr. Hinderlie has focused on bringing equity and inclusion to the forefront of conversations on campus. He will be succeeded by The Hotchkiss School’s current Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Dr. Rachel Myers, who will begin on July 1.
Given recent social distancing restrictions due to Covid-19, interviews of candidates had to be conducted over the video-conferencing platform Zoom. This, however, did not deter Dr. Myers from her interest in Choate.
“Each of those Zoom interviews just made me more excited for the position,” she said. The advisory group tasked with finding Dr. Hinderlie’s successor consisted of Associate Director of Equity and Inclusion Mr. Filipe Camarotti, Dean of Students Mr. Mike Velez ’00, and Associate Head of School Ms. Kathleen Wallace, among others.
Dr. Myers has a Ph.D. in African American and African Studies from Michigan State University and has been involved in equity and inclusion work at Hotchkiss since 2014. She is a Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (SEED) Certified Leader and has spoken at many conferences focused on equity and inclusion.
Dr. Myers said that she looks forward to bringing to Choate some of the programs she has started at Hotchkiss, particularly “Community Conversations,” in which the school community discusses various facets of identity.
“Students can submit questions anonymously. The ‘headline’ for these conversations are ‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask About.’ Sometimes we’re a little bit afraid to lean into the discomfort, so [these events are] taking that fear away,” said Dr. Myers. She hopes not only to bring ideas that have proved successful in the past but also to continue what has been successful at Choate.
Dr. Myers decided to pursue this position at Choate because of the breadth of resources Choate has dedicated to equity and inclusion, such as the Diversity Education Committee, which works alongside the Director of Equity and Inclusion.
“There are a lot more structures at Choate in terms of having the equity and inclusion team,” said Dr. Myers. “Right now at Hotchkiss, I’m a team of one person. It’s really important that at Choate, they provide those titles and job descriptions to acknowledge those roles.”
Dr. Hinderlie’s decision not to return was based on several reasons. “When I first came to Choate, Choate was looking at other schools to figure out how to be a more inclusive community. Within that four years, now Choate is a school where other schools look at us,” he said.
He said he was satisfied with his accomplishments over the past four years, and has come to feel the desire to work with sev- eral schools at a time. “I always get requests to work with other schools on consulting projects and independent projects,” he said. “I thought that I could have more of an impact work- ing with more schools.”
Dr. Hinderlie’s major initiatives include the Pathways Program, a student mentorship program for new students of color; the creation of the Young Women of Color Conference, the first of which was hosted at Choate; accompanying students to off-campus events, such as the Student Diversity Leadership Conference and the Asian American Footsteps Conference; and improving the content of Choate’s annual Diversity Day. He has also been instrumental in training faculty in issues of diversity and inclusion.
Through these programs, Dr. Hinderlie has touched the lives of many students. Ben Cho ’22, who came into Choate as a member of the Pathways Program and is now a rising Pathways Mentor, said, “Dr. Hinderlie, along with the Pathways Program, has consistently helped students of different racial and cultural backgrounds. Dr. Hinderlie has emphasized the importance of equity and inclusion of all races at Choate, and I see our community progressing towards this ultimate goal.”
Head of School Dr. Alex Curtis praised Dr. Hinderlie’s contributions. “I’m very grateful to Dr. Hinderlie,” he said. “He did a lot of very spectacular work, created some important programming that I hope we can continue to build upon.”
Dr. Curtis added that the new Strategic Plan, which he and the rest of the School’s administration is currently drafting, “maintains our commitment to a fair, just, equitable community that’s welcoming to all.”
Dr. Hinderlie said that he is saddened that, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it appears he will not be able to say a proper goodbye to the community.
“I anticipated that we would come back and that I would have a chance to connect with students that I’ve come to know and developed positive relationships with,” he said.“I think the thing that I miss the most is that the last time I saw students was in March, and I won’t have a chance to say goodbye and be with them in person.”
