Equity Task Force

Statement of Purpose*

We Are Committed to the shared mission and vision of Collegium Charter School, to support and sustain an educational community that is inclusive, diverse, and equitable. The values of diversity, inclusion, and equity are inextricably linked to our mission of excellence, and we embrace these values as being critical to development, learning, and success. To fully realize our mission it is imperative we recognize the institutional barriers, including racism, other “isms” and biases, that contribute to the pervasive, disparate educational outcomes within our charter school.

We Will Take Action to eliminate barriers as we strive for equity for all student and staff groups. We expect nothing less than an accessible, multicultural community in which civility and respect are fostered, and discrimination and harassment are not tolerated. We recognize that our work to respect diversity and to include all in our community has roots in a history that has privileged certain groups while excluding and oppressing others. In our work across our campus and broader community, we work to address the detrimental effects of this history through our teaching, practice, training, and service.

Moreover, We Are Vigilant to advance the voices and needs of our marginalized populations, given the existing power differentials within our community and in the larger society.

*Adapted with permission from Washington’s Northshore School District (NSD). We acknowledge the NSD and thank them for their open generosity.

Meet our Equity Task Force Consultants

Dr. H. Bernard Hall,
Drexel University

H. Bernard Hall is Assistant Professor of Urban Teacher Education at Drexel University in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum. His teaching and research interests include social justice approaches to teacher education and development, secondary English education, hip-hop pedagogy, and critical qualitative research. Dr. Hall has facilitated numerous professional and personal development workshops on anti-racist practice in public and independent K-12 schools, colleges, and community-based organizations across the Delaware Valley. His scholarship has been published in peer-reviewed academic journals such as Urban Education, International Journal of Multicultural Education, and Research in the Teaching of English, and featured at national conferences including the American Educational Research Association and National Council of Teachers of English.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Hall received his undergraduate degrees in English and Sociology and Master of Arts in Educational Studies (with Secondary Teaching Certificate: English) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He earned his Ph.D. in Urban Education from Temple University in 2012.

Dr. Dametraus L. Jaggers,
West Chester University

Dametraus L. Jaggers is Director of West Chester University’s Dowdy Multicultural Center. For more than a decade, Dr. Jaggers has implemented, coordinated and facilitated equity, inclusion and justice initiatives as a college professor, university administrator, researcher, scholar and community leader. Dr. Jaggers’ breadth of experience includes leading department and campus-wide strategies at public and private colleges and universities; collaborating with k-12 educators, non-profit professionals, community organizations and faith-based leaders to advance the work of equity, inclusion and justice. Dr. Jaggers has planned conferences, facilitated education and training workshops, organized community-centered dialogues, hired chief diversity officers and launched diversity retention efforts. Dr. Jaggers has published scholarly works in peer-reviewed journals and secured external grant funding for research and community engagement projects.

A Cleveland, Ohio native, Dr. Jaggers received a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing and a Master of Education in higher education administration and student personnel from Kent State University. He also earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration, with an emphasis on research and cultural studies from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.