This is an open letter from a group of concerned alumni and parents. Up until July 8th of last year, we were thankful that Regis remained faithful to its mission of academic excellence and fostering a spirit of generosity and service to those in need, and had resisted the fashionable racism inherent in Critical Race Theory (CRT) that has been embraced by other educational institutions. We felt confident that the academic rigor and focus on critical thinking that Regis has instilled in its graduates for over a century made Regis immune to the anti-rational, anti-liberal, anti-meritocratic, neo-racist ideology that is Critical Race Theory.
Regis’ reckoning came last summer when an anonymous group created an Instagram page called @BlackatRegis in response to a letter Regis emailed to the entire Regis community on June 3, 2020. Many of the stories on @BlackatRegis are awful, and we want to be clear that racial harassment and discrimination are unacceptable. We expect Regis to address any incidents swiftly and decisively.
However, the @BlackatRegis site does not simply draw attention to these incidents. It prescribes, as the remedy, the adoption of CRT ideology. The @BlackatRegis site contains links to two letters to Regis. The first letter is anonymous and states that the “mission of this project (@BlackatRegis) is to highlight the experiences of Black alumni, current students, faculty, and staff at a school that perpetuates racism and explicit anti-Blackness.”
The second letter, a document called “Dear Regis – Black Lives Matter,” was signed by over 600 Regis and REACH alumni and faculty. It is also full of CRT jargon and condemnations of Regis’ behavior:
Like so many schools around the country, Regis appears to have immediately surrendered to this particular prescription for addressing the racial climate on campus. This is evidenced by
In fact, it appears that Regis has embraced CRT ever since @BlackatRegis emerged. Many decisions were made during a time when Regis had no president. On April 11, 2021, the Regis community was informed that Christian Talbot, a current board member who attended Regis and also spent 13 years teaching at the school, is now our Interim President. A quick perusal of Mr. Talbot’s internet presence (he is the founder of a consulting company called Basecamp) indicates that he seems to be a strong supporter of CRT who recommends books by Ibram Kendi (a leading proponent of CRT), and is against standardized tests like the SAT.
Unless alumni speak up, we fear our Interim President, the to-be-hired Director of DEI, and the Diversity Steering Committee are going to do irreparable damage to our alma mater, despite their good intentions. CRT advocates work to weaken or eliminate entrance exams, reduce curricular focus on the Western Canon, set firm racial quotas for students and faculty (regardless of qualifications), and achieve “Equity” (equality of outcomes) by reducing all students’ performance to that of the weakest.
As alumni and parents, to the extent there is any racism at Regis, we want it eliminated. We want to ensure that ALL students feel safe and welcome. Regis’ sudden embrace of CRT is particularly upsetting when those of us who have been involved with Regis for decades know how hard Regis has worked to address the concerns of the black Regis community. Regis has been trying to hire more black faculty for over a decade. There is an enormous amount of competition for black teachers. 20 years ago, Regis designed the REACH Program to help more students of color prepare for the rigors of a Regis education when their local schools may not have been up to the task.
Regis opens a Pandora’s Box when it pledges to ensure that the Regis culture is “free from any racial or other bias, either implicit or explicit” in its July 8th missive to alumni. Pledging to eliminate IMPLICIT bias gives the CRT advocates control over all aspects of life at Regis, from admissions to curriculum, pedagogy, teacher training, grading, and discipline. All objective standards become subjective, and decisions are based on emotion rather than reason. From the CRT perspective, you cannot defend yourself against a charge of implicit racism, because the feelings of the accuser are given greater weight than an objective view of what actually transpired. From the CRT perspective, to challenge implicit racism is evidence of racism. Once CRT is given a foothold, it impacts all aspects of a school. Indeed, the job description posted by Regis mandates that the new Director of DEI be involved in every aspect of the school (admissions, curriculum, “professional development for all faculty and staff”, strategic planning, hiring, and “programming for student formation”).
We have provided links to numerous articles and essays on CRT in the appendix to this letter.
We whole-heartedly encourage Regis in its efforts to become a more inclusive environment for students of all backgrounds. Students who engage in racial harassment must face consequences for their actions. Regis should discuss these issues and the importance of judging people on their character and putting ourselves in others’ shoes with the students when they first arrive freshman year. But that does not require embracing CRT and going down the same path as Grace Church High School, Dalton and Brearley We much prefer the common humanity approach to dealing with racism and hope the Regis administrators, faculty, and Board of Trustees agree.
OUR REQUESTS:
We have seen at other institutions that when a school restructures its educational philosophy around the principles of CRT, free and open debate is quickly replaced by a climate of fear and silence. We want to ensure this does not happen at Regis. We ask the Board of Directors and Regis Administration (including the Interim President) to be wholly transparent about any plans to implement CRT-based training or curriculum at Regis. We want to know what this will mean for the school, specifically in terms of admissions, curriculum, pedagogy, grading, discipline and the overall mission of the school. We request that they agree to take proactive steps to ensure that Regis remains a place where rigorous pedagogy, critical thinking, and free and open discussion remain the norm.
In particular, we request that before anything related to race at Regis is implemented by the school, it retain a consultant of the common humanity approach to racism to review such decisions and policies. These matters would include candidates for DEI Officer, candidates for the new full-time admissions hire, any race-related policies or policy changes including, but not limited to
The consultant would have to be associated with a common humanity inspired group such as 1776 Unites, FAIR, Counterweight, – groups that work to eliminate racism without resorting to the fatalistic, neo-racist, CRT ideology that is so divisive and pervasive at the moment. This consultant would share their view on these matters with the Board, administration and alumni. Their recommendations would not be binding on Regis – just as Regis should not hand over the reins to those who support CRT, it should not hand them to those who oppose it.
We would also like the school to agree that the to-be-hired Director of DEI will be responsible for teaching at least half a full-time teacher’s workload (two classes). A full-time DEI officer will feel obligated to find “implicit” racism and bias everywhere in order to justify their continued employment. No other peer school we looked at (Xavier, Fordham Prep, Cristo Rey Harlem, St Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, and Iona Prep) had a full-time DEI officer – they were all part-time obligations.
If Regis does not promote CRT, we request that the school stop using CRT terminology, both within Regis and in communications with alumni and the broader community. .
We request that the Board vote on this and all race-related issues anonymously. CRT proponents call anyone who refuses to comply with their demands racist – voting anonymously is the only way Board members can vote their conscience without fear of retribution.
We request that the school give us equal treatment by sending this Open Letter to all alumni and posting it (or a link to it) on the Regis.org website, just as it sent the @BlackatRegis Instagram page to all alumni in its July 8, 2020 letter and currently directs people there on the school’s website.
If you are a member of the Regis Community and support the opinions expressed in this letter, please send an email to the law firm of Allen Harris PLLC at info@allenharrislaw.com with your name and year of graduation or relationship to the school. Allen Harris PLLC will not share anyone's name with us or the school, unless you specifically request that your name be shared. It will only inform Regis how many people emailed them in support of this letter.
Thank you for caring enough about Regis to read this letter.
May ours be the noble heart, strong to endure…
Appendix of Critical Race Theory Articles:
Information / Examples of CRT
Learn More • Critical Race Training in Education
https://www.city-journal.org/html/prep-school-pc-plague-12237.html
The Miseducation of America’s Elites | City Journal (city-journal.org)
https://www.dalton.org/dalton-news?pk=1391529
Critiques of CRT / resources:
https://1776unites.com/essays/critical-race-theorys-toxic-destructive-impact-on-america/
https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/critical-theory-or-common-humanity/
Critical Race Theory: On the New Ideology of Race | Manhattan Institute (manhattan-institute.org)
What’s Wrong with Critical Race Theory: Reopening the Case for Middle Class Values (cornell.edu)
Common Humanity Approach to Addressing Racism Resources:
1776 Unites | Uplifting Everyday Americans | America's founding principles - in action!
FAIR – Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (fairforall.org)
Home - Counterweight (counterweightsupport.com)
OpenMind | Leveraging behavioral science to bridge divides (openmindplatform.org)