Our Commitment to Anti-Racism
At Great Lakes, the faculty and board are actively engaged in learning about the broader impacts of systemic racism. We seek to be agents for change, specifically in the area of Waldorf education. We recognize that many of the practices in Waldorf education have inadvertently aligned with privileged white thinking. We believe that Waldorf education, with its commitment to social renewal, can work to make deep and lasting change in our teachers, our schools, and our communities.
To this end, at Great Lakes we are doing the following:
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Continuous diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) study by our board and faculty;
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Reviewing all courses and overall curriculum to ensure that anti-racism and anti-bias study and learning is happening throughout ​our program;
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Diversifying board, faculty and staff in terms of ethnicity, race, gender identity, and sexual orientation
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Creating a diversity scholarship fund to attract students from historically marginalized racial or ethnic groups who otherwise would have difficulty accessing Waldorf teaching training programs.
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Diversity and Non-Discrimination Statement
Great Lakes Waldorf Institute, Inc (GLWI) is committed to creating a welcoming environment for all students, faculty, administration, staff, board members, and others involved with GLWI. To that end, we actively seek to include, embrace, and celebrate people of diverse backgrounds at all levels of the program.
Great Lakes Waldorf Institute, Inc., encourages broad public support and participation in its management and activities, and shall not discriminate in any manner whatsoever against any person on the basis of race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or mental or physical handicap or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and any other programs. We are committed to reflecting the diversity of our society and creating space for historically excluded and underrepresented groups to participate in all aspects of the corporation's management and activities.
The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee consists of representatives committed to personal and systemic anti-racist practice and change within Great Lakes Waldorf Institute (GLWI) and the broader Waldorf community. They are a joint board, faculty, staff, student, Waldorf parent, and community committee consisting of representatives who have a demonstrated commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. Committee members have a significant role in the development of strategies and best practices and strive to offer guidance, policies, and procedures to deeply integrate diverse perspectives and backgrounds into GLWI and GLWI’s students’ teaching. Learn more about the JEDI Committee and their goals here.