Message to the CH-CH Community

Dear CH-CH community members,

At the end of the past week, the President of the United States issued an executive order that effectively stops immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations. The order bans immigrants from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen from entering the U.S. for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days.

On the heels of this executive order, a federal judge from the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, granted an Emergency Motion for Stay of Removal that disallows anyone “removing individuals with refugee applications approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, holders of valid immigrant and non-immigrant visas, and other individuals from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen legally authorized to enter the United States.”

At this time, there is still much that American and global citizens, as well as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, do not know concerning the direction of the U.S. immigration policy in the days and months ahead. For more information, you may wish to read the following New York Times article from Sunday. Please know that we will be monitoring this situation closely as news evolves.

While Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall does not currently enroll any international students from these seven countries, we have in the past. These men and women proudly represent CH-CH as alumni and school ambassadors throughout the world. It is the School’s intention to continue our longstanding tradition of enrolling international students in a safe and secure environment on our campus in Waltham. Our 41 current international students (23% of 180) join thousands of international students that have attended CH-CH over the past 40+ years. It is our pledge to continue ensuring a safe learning environment for ALL students enrolled at the School. We will regularly check-in with our international students and their families to ensure their needs are met, questions are answered, and concerns are addressed.

In the School’s recently adopted 2020 Strategic Plan, we made a commitment to increase the international student diversification over the next three years. This includes not simply a broader range in the countries of origin, but also increased ethnicities, races, languages and, yes, religions amongst our student body. The equity and diversity of the Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall student body is one of the shining lights of our community, and we are more committed than ever to supporting a more globalized learning environs that champions these principles.

Let me close by acknowledging the difficult balance I find myself needing to maintain in the present political climate as both an educational leader of an independent school and the citizen of a democracy. While I, Lance Conrad, certainly maintain very strong feelings about what I’m witnessing in the world today, on many levels, I acknowledge that it is improper for me to step up to the proverbial pulpit and preach my mind. Rather, it is vitally important for me to understand that there are “teachable moments” happening all around us these days that are best captured in the classrooms, dormitories and even the Charger Café as dialogues between all community members.

It is important that we all maintain respect for the opinion of the other, even if we don’t agree with it. In a democracy, you absolutely have the right and, in fact, obligation to form opinions grounded in independent, informed thinking. Discourse is a natural product of effective teaching and learning; I simply ask that the CH-CH community maintain decorum in discourse as we move forward, together. Please embrace and live the golden rule.

Warm Regards,

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