Class Matters: Community Explores Issues of Socioeconomic Diversity

A year-long dialogue aims to lift the veil on the invisible difference

October 07, 2009 — Weeks before graduation, Mary wonders why all of her friends at Andover are from her own social status. After all, she originally chose to leave the confines of her upper-middle-class hometown to attend Andover in hopes of being exposed to the deep diversity for which the school on the Hill is known.

Tom wonders, too. Having grown up in the inner city with a single mom who never attended college, he finds the very sight of Andover’s stately brick buildings intimidating. As fall classes start, he sits quietly as his peers discuss their summers spent on safari, in Europe, or on some worldly expedition. His summer was spent taking care of his younger siblings.

Linda Griffith has talked to both students—and many others from across the socioeconomic spectrum—about feelings of alienation and guilt because of what they might or might not have experienced in relation to their peers. As dean of community and multicultural development (CAMD), Griffith is forging a campus-wide dialogue this year, called “Class Matters,” to lift the veil on what one of her students deemed “the invisible difference.”

“Over the years, our community has grown adept at looking at issues of race, gender, and sexuality square in the eye. We are first and foremost an intellectual community, and part of that is questioning ourselves and the world around us,” says Griffith, “but the issue of class has been a challenge. It’s emotional, often taboo, and almost always personal.”

Today, with 44 percent of Andover’s population receiving some form of financial aid, the student body has never been more socio-economically diverse. According to Jim Ventre, director of financial aid and admission operations, Andover has been committed to its constitutional mission of educating “youth from every quarter” since its founding in 1778, periodically reevaluating this directive throughout history to better reflect an ever evolving society at large. Andover’s current diversification, although a natural progression over the course of decades, was recently buttressed by the 2004 Strategic Plan, which directed the school to better understand the term “youth from every quarter” in a 21st-century context.

"It’s no accident that we had a record 77 percent of all accepted applicants attend Andover this year,” says Ventre. “Because we are need-blind and because our student body is so compelling, families across the socioeconomic spectrum are attracted to Andover. In fact, we had a 71 percent yield with our ‘full pay’ students. Attracting this impressive group is only possible when our admissions strategy is based on admitting the most talented and the most qualified.”

Armed with a pile of past student testimonials, a group of kids freshly trained in how to discuss class, and an impressive mix of experts who will visit campus throughout the year, Griffith aims to bring class out from the shadows—in a way that is, foremost, inclusive and safe.

“At my age I can talk about class in a very different way than I could when I was in high school. We can bring a lot of shame with us as young people when we’re uncertain about ourselves and our accomplishments,” says Griffith, who also is an instructor in English. “We must remember equity does not mean ‘the same.’ Sure, we are all members of the same community, but the paths that led each us of here are as varied and numerous as the individuals who make up the Academy. We need to share the stories of those paths so that we can empower ourselves and strengthen our bonds with each other.”

The initiative kicked off in early fall with a presentation for faculty by Samuel Betances, author and educator, on the impact of class on student achievement.  

The dialogue will continue throughout the year with a faculty meeting, small group discussions led by both faculty and students, and a visit by Paul Farmer, an anthropologist and physician who will speak about the socioeconomic issues related to health care. Writer Barbara Ehrenreich (“Nickel and Dimed”) and journalist Alfred Lubrano (“Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams”) also will visit campus. CAMD Scholar Bijan Torabi ’10 will present his study, titled “Cultural Capital: At Phillips Academy and Beyond,” on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and plans are underway for a possible film series as well