Celebrating Diversity: Why do we have an EDI working group?

‘It’s hard to keep an open mind, if you don’t have an open heart…’

–  Adam Grant.

EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) is something that is often seen as ‘extra’ or a checkbox exercise. It can be something that gets lost in the sea of training videos and buzzwords and acronyms that people have heard but don’t fully understand.

At St Columba’s College, in 2022, we started the EDI working group, a committee consisting of Brandon Bourne (Teacher of Business and Economics), Tilk Malhotra (Prep 5 Teacher) and Br. Joseph Holthaus (Dean). Our sole focus was finding ways to identify what the college is doing well in terms of creating the sanctuary we want for our students and teachers.

“We are greater than, and greater for, the sum of us.”

– Heather McGhee (Writer, ‘The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together’)

Another reason why this is often misunderstood is because of the nature of it. It is a consistently changing thing, because we are consistently changing as people. Every single one of our students and teachers are individually unique and bring something to the community that no one else can. A unique set of skills, viewpoints, beliefs and experiences. Each of these differences enrich our community and make it the Columban way we are known for.

We want to share our progress and our ideas as we navigate this working party and celebrate the differences that enrich our community. To put a spotlight on the amazing projects currently going on in the college.

As the year progresses, our updates and posts will highlight different topics that are a particular focus at that time, as we conduct twilight sessions once a half term for our staff, highlighting factors such as LGBTQIA+, race, sex, disability, neurodiversity and more. We aim to post every month / half term, to give a roundup of what’s happening, and what is to come.