Milton's Diversity Newsletter, Moving Voices, Moving Milton
On February 6, 2009, Milton Academy launched the School’s first diversity newsletter, Moving Voices, Moving Milton. The online publication includes opinions and reactions of students, articles from faculty about Milton’s curriculum, news and events, and more.
Click here to read Moving Voices, Moving Milton.

Students of Color
Students of Color, who are either African-American, Asian-American, Latino, Indigenous, or bi/multi-racial, make up 32 percent of the Upper School student body.

Faculty of Color
The Upper School faculty is made up of 12 percent people of color. That translates into 21 Upper School teachers and administrators who are either African-American, Asian-American, Latino, or bi-racial. Faculty and administrators at Milton are dedicated to building a diverse community of teachers and students committed to learning and mutual respect.

Diversity Administration
Director of Student Multicultural Programs: coordinates all diversity programs—those for international students and students of color. Leads the Transition, Host Family and Culturefest programs. Serves as liaison for organizations that help enroll students of color at Milton. Takes part in meetings of class deans, house heads and other faculty who care for students every day.

Director of Diversity Planning: plans and facilitates diversity programs and serves as a resource for diversity initiatives. Helps organize faculty meetings on diversity issues. Co-chairs Seminar Day and Culturefest.

The Cultural Diversity Committee (CDC)
Founded in 1982 by faculty members, this committee also has involved parents, administrators, trustees and students at various periods throughout its history. Its charter of 1995 charges the group to “diversify school culture, faculty, administration, staff, and curriculum.” Programs either initiated or developed by CDC include the Transition Program, the Host Family Program, Parents For Diversity, the Middle School Issues Project, inclusion of Jewish Holidays into the school calendar, Hiring Recommendations for Diversity, the Campus Orientation Program for all new students, and the permanent photography exhibit honoring the history of girls at Milton.

Inservice Professional Development for Faculty
Each year educators and consultants in the field of diversity come to Milton Academy to work with the faculty on the many aspects of this field. Guests have included author Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum Dean of Mt. Holyoke College, Dr. Howard Stevenson, Associate Professor of Psychology at Penn, and Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Director of the Center for Afro-American Studies at Harvard University.

SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Project
Since 1986, the National S.E.E.D. (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Project, based at the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, has established faculty-led staff development seminars in schools throughout the country. Since 1997, Milton has sponsored a series of monthly SEED seminars open to all faculty and staff. The voluntary seminars are based on the reading of scholarly literature, as well as on films which reflect a diversity of perspectives. Using the metaphor of windows and mirrors, SEED suggests that an inclusive curriculum provides learners with a balance: a window to frame and acknowledge the diverse experiences of others, and a mirror to reflect our own experience and the validity of each individual.

On-Campus Student Groups
Asian Society - promotes Asian, Asian-American and Pacific Island cultures through weekly meetings and activities.

Latino Association - promotes awareness of Latino/Hispanic culture in the US and abroad through social and cultural activities.

Onyx - an organization through which Black students can find social, cultural and political support among their peers through weekly meetings and activities. Membership is open to all students who are interested in appreciating, respecting and learning about the Black experience.

HAPA (the Hawaiian word for half) - weekly discussion group for biracial and multiracial students.

Jewish Student Union - discusses issues about and affecting the Jewish community within Milton and beyond. All members of the Milton community are encouraged to share their thoughts, opinions and ideas regardless of their religion, race, or ethnicity.

GASP (Gay & Straight People) - discusses issues of sexual orientation, educates the campus, and provides support to people of all orientations.

Common Ground - a multicultural action-oriented association working to support diversity and community at Milton. Its goal is to educate the school about ethnic, racial, religious, gender, family and sexual differences, while celebrating the "common ground" that brings together all groups at the school.

Muslim Student Association - discussion group about issues relating to Islam

Student Diversity Publications
Ache — a multicultural literary and art magazine published each semester by an editorial board of students of color at Milton Academy. Its purpose is to explore the experiences of people of color and to give them voice.

The Asian — a monthly periodical which reports on Pan-Asian issues both abroad and in the U.S. Students are encouraged to write and use graphic design to express their political and creative opinions in an open forum on Asian and Asian-American issues and culture.

La Voz — Milton's Spanish language student newspaper. Published quarterly, this paper gives Spanish language students at level III or higher the opportunity to write in Spanish on issues at Milton, in the U.S. or abroad, which involve the Spanish-speaking community.

Programs
The Transition Program
This voluntary program for newly enrolled students of color has two goals: first, to help these students develop greater confidence as they make the initial adjustment to life at Milton Academy, and second, to help them identify experiences which will enhance their ability to demonstrate their strengths successfully. Through the Transition Program, we hope new students of color and international students will establish a sense of camaraderie and support with each other. Another objective is that they will also make acquaintances and develop relationships with some returning students and some faculty, so that when school starts there will already be a number of people they will know. The program also familiarizes the students with the physical layout of the campus, as well as with the academic expectations at Milton, with sample classes taught by faculty and a daily schedule designed to simulate a regular Milton school day .

The Host Family Program
Since 1983, the Host Family Program has helped new boarding students feel more comfortable in their "home away from home." Host families, most often families of day students or nearby boarders, help make the transition easier for new boarding students with efforts ranging from a gift of homemade cookies to an invitation to spend a three-day weekend. Contact between a host family and the hosted student is typically once a month. However, the program is flexible, based on a student's need and what a family is able to provide. Many students have found the program most beneficial during their initial years at Milton, while some students have used the pairing for all of their time at the school.

The Assembly Program
Milton's weekly Upper School Assembly Program reflects a spectrum of presentations to the student body on a variety of diversity topics. Presenters in recent years have included the following: Harvard professors Cornel West, Randall Kennedy and Christopher Edley; authors Gish Jen, James Carroll and Chaim Potok; musicians Bernice Johnson Regan, Bobby Sanabria, Abdullah Ibraham, and Taiko Drummers; actors Teja Arboleda (a.k.a. Ethnicman) and B.D. Wong; Facing History Speakers Rina Finder, Sonia Weitz, Greg Alan Williams, and Leon Bass and Dr. Maurice Vandepol; psychologists Michael Thompson and Catherine Steiner Adaire.

Community Relations Assembly Program
These are special assemblies that are held several times each year and are designed to focus on how we respect each other and how we take responsibility for our personal interactions in the School. Presenters in recent year s have included Peggy Macintosh, Director of the Wellesley Center for Research on Women, and Kevin Jennings, Executive Director of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network)