Hartford Seminary is committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

After the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others, President Joel N. Lohr encouraged the Seminary community in June 2020 to work with him and senior leaders to address how we as an organization—systemically—will deliver on our commitment to support racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.

President Lohr tasked the Seminary’s Senior Leadership team with making recommendations to address systemic and historic racial inequities both internally and externally. The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees adopted several of these recommendations, including:

• Hiring a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
  Lorraine Browne, who has worked at Hartford Seminary in various positions since 2007, was promoted to that position on July 30, 2020.
• Establishing a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Council
  The council, which had its first meeting on Sept. 17, 2020, is chaired by Lorraine Browne. Other members are:
  
  • Naseem Shaikh, Trustee
  • Ann Crawford, Chief Operations Officer
  • Jean Amos Lys, Trustee
  • Lucinda Mosher, Faculty Associate in Interfaith Studies

In its first meeting on Sept. 17, 2020, the council established an annual meeting schedule and began a review of the recommendations put forward by the Seminary’s Senior Leadership Team. The council also agreed that the Seminary’s website should include a section on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to serve as a clearinghouse for internal initiatives, news, resources, and upcoming events. The council is beginning to examine opportunities for structured dialogue on race and social justice, implement a process to respond to racial incidents at the Seminary, as well as partner with and support other groups in Hartford working to further social justice. As the council begins to compile and analyze various data, diversity targets will be established and shared.