Heather Flewelling Named First Director of Student Multicultural Affairs

Throughout the country, school leaders are struggling with the best way to create, nourish and benefit from communities rich in ethnic, racial, religious, socio-economic and sexual diversity. Enjoying the texture that so many perspectives can bring, while acknowledging and addressing any systemic issues that bar students and other community members from feeling as though “they belong” is no easy task in any environment.

Heather Flewelling, a trained social worker, is comfortingly matter of fact about her passion for her work, which focuses on diversity. A 10-year veteran of Brown University, where she oversaw community service programs that worked with high school students, and a veteran, too, of Milton Academy’s health center counseling office, Heather has been named director of student multicultural programs at Milton.

“Part of my goal is to get students to think about what beliefs they bring to campus. We all have culture, and it’s broader than just a racial perspective.

“For many students, living with so many kinds of students is a new experience—an opportunity to build relationships across barriers,” Heather says.

“Part of the reason this job interests me is that coming to a place like Milton is a tremendous opportunity and resource for students of color—but it can be hard, too,” Heather says. “From the outside, there is a perception that the traditions here are homogenous: Students need to know that they have role models with whom they can identify and adult resources who understand the challenges and benefits of being part of this community. They also need to understand that Milton has a long tradition of diversity; you can begin to see the results of that that in the campus culture clubs, CultureFest [a festival celebrating diversity] and the Onyx Dance.”

Heather calls Milton a progressive school and sees her role as one that facilitates an important non-academic part of the education available here: She wants students to come together to learn to live and work well with others, and she wants them to recognize that success as fundamental to their education here.

“We’re educating tomorrow’s leaders. Students need a real understanding of how aspects of culture intersect and diverge. An understanding of diversity isn’t just for students of color and working-class students. Building friendships in this environment adds to the richness of the intellectual experience,” Heather says.

She sees talking explicitly with students about diversity as a crucial in raising the value of issues related to diversity—around curriculum and classroom dynamics; around issues about how and when students (especially boarding students) speak their primary languages; about recognizing the little things such as what holidays are acknowledged, what food is served in the dining halls and what religious beliefs are supported.

“I want to create the hard conversations. We all have something to contribute to the conversation about diversity. We need to look beneath the surface and challenge ourselves and each other to envision a school and a world that acknowledges the strengths and challenges of each person,” Heather says.

Heather will work closely with Christine Savini, director of diversity planning, who supports the adult community, and offers strategic help with hiring, resource development and ongoing training. “Christine and I understand that our ‘ends’ impact each other,” Heather says. Heather will stay close to the culture clubs on campus, while sustaining the effort to talk about questions as they arise throughout the community.

“Part of my work is also about recognizing that being a teenager is hard. Many experiences are ‘firsts’—some of those are wonderful and some are really awful and those challenges and success are part of the equation in talking about how we might want things to change.

“I’m willing to be the keeper of that consciousness,” she says. “I want to be a place where students can come if they’re having issues within the campus. I’ve always approached my work by looking at things two ways: what is going on with an individual and how does this relate to the individual’s place within the larger society.”

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