Best of CASE District VIII Award
 

Institution: Lakeside School

Title of entry: Lakeside Magazine “Black at Lakeside” issue

About this entry: In the summer of 2020, during a time of national reckoning with truth, violence, and systemic racism, Lakeside School recommitted itself to listening and learning more deeply about the experiences of its community members who identify as Black, African, or African American. A special issue of the school’s alumni magazine, published in July 2021 following months in the making, became the most public and visible expression of that recommitment. The issue, guided by a special all-Black advisory committee and brought to life by a talented team of creatives — nearly all of them people of color, most of them first-time contributors to the magazine — documented the experiences and voices of Black students and alumni whose stories have often been left out of Lakeside’s curated history. The result was an honest, visually rich, and richly articulated exploration of what it has meant to be “Black at Lakeside.” The oral histories that anchored the issue were transcribed and made a part of Lakeside’s permanent archive. Among the outpouring of positive reader response were letters from Black alumni who told us they felt seen by the school for the first time in their lives. New donors stepped forward, asking how they could support the school’s DEI work. Formally and informally, we heard from long-disaffected alumni who had decided to come back into the fold and give the school another chance to include them. The ripple effect — on current students, on prospective new families — will be life changing.