NAIS PoCC, the OG Grievance Club
There is now enough data to prove that DEI's only “benefit” is enriching the consulting class. This gives organizations newfound permission to move away from DEI. However, those invested in the grievance industry will not give up without a fight—there is too much money, and too many jobs are at stake. This was demonstrated when Colin Wright exposed how “two leading media organizations abruptly shelved coverage of a groundbreaking study on DEI that went against their narrative.”
Even in light of facts, NAIS and its DEI grifters are doubling down to produce the next generation of activists, making some money along the way.
NAIS just concluded its 37th annual People of Color Conference (PoCC) — “PoCC is unique among professional development experiences in the national education landscape. PoCC supports the complex dynamics of independent school life and culture and the varied roles people of color play and experience in these settings.”
The conference spans 5 days of grievance, equity seminars, racism, self-loathing, victimhood, and segregation. It is a “safe space” where independent schools become playgrounds for ideologues who are trying out intellectually dishonest virtue-signaling ideas on your children.
It’s satiric that NAIS continues to focus on equity and “making waves.”
This year’s theme was “Meeting the Moment: Anchoring and Enriching our Education Futures.” In addition to the standard one-dimensional speakers who preach the social justice pillars of race, gender, and climate, Suzanne Barakat was invited to promote a one-sided version of history. Among other things, she claims that Israel is committing genocide and that the IHRA definition of antisemitism is "anti-Palestinian racism."
Here, you can listen to what she had to say:
For those wondering how this fits into the program, DEI is the permission structure that makes antisemitism socially acceptable. Fortunately, this content was leaked and shared on social media, forcing NAIS to issue a weak apology.
Pushing equity is the ultimate hypocrisy
There is nothing “equitable” about highly selective independent schools where parents pay exorbitant money so their children can get ahead. Equity is not compatible with the excellence that independent schools have been selling.
The PoCC conference is not accessible to everyone and is expensive to attend (registration doesn't include travel and lodging expenses).
For the past 25 years, the NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) has been held concurrently with the PoCC. This student conference has served to indoctrinate the next generation of social justice activists through a selective program accessible to those who submit a written application. The selection criteria require ideological conformity to maintain the “safe space.” Participation in this conference surely looks good on college applications.
NAIS touts the (SDLC) as “a multiracial, multicultural gathering of student leaders from eligible independent high schools across the U.S. and abroad. SDLC focuses on self-reflecting, forming allies, and building community. Led by a diverse team of trained adult and peer facilitators, participating students develop cross-cultural communication skills, design effective strategies for social justice practice through dialogue and the arts, and learn the foundations of allyship and networking principles.”
Students participate in secretive, closed-door sessions led by strangers. This year's theme was Lifting As We Climb: Elevating Our Schools Through Love and Justice.
Here was the keynote speaker:
Parents ask your school:
Why do you send people to the conference?
Do the benefits to the school outweigh the costs?
What are the benefits?
How many faculty and students attended? How are they selected?
Which workshops did they attend?
What did they learn?
Do participants provide any follow-up to the broad school community post-conference?
According to NAIS, “Participants leave the conference better equipped to improve the interracial, interethnic, and intercultural climate in your school, which will have a positive impact on the academic, social-emotional, and workplace performance outcomes for students and adults alike.” Parents should be very concerned if their schools rely on NAIS to “improve” school climates.
Looking to the new year
As we look ahead to a new year, we hope that schools will begin to see the value in promoting the virtues of being Americans. If they won't, Bonnie Snyder’s How To Raise An American is here to help.
Snyder asserts that “for at least a decade now (and I’m being restrained in this estimation) most American schoolchildren have been fed a steady diet of disproportionately discouraging American cultural criticism in schools without appropriate balance or full contextualization. Hence, most young people are fully primed to quickly point out societal imperfections, but if you ask them to extol the virtues of the American Way of Life, or even to define its distinctness, they will likely struggle, or present a distorted caricature. It’s time to correct this imbalance.”
- Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder, D.Ed