Community, Inclusion, and Equity (CIE)

Highlighting the rich diversity within the Gilman community, this annual event promotes understanding, education, acceptance, respect, and friendship by showcasing art, history, music, customs, entertainment, and food from cultures throughout the world.

Parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends of the Gilman community representing more than two dozen cultures display items representing their heritage, including books, clothing, games, and cuisine. Music, dance, storytelling, and demonstrations occur throughout the day.

CIE Evenings bring together members of the Gilman community and the public around CIE-related topics. Often featuring a keynote speaker or presentation, these events facilitate important discussions and connections.

The Upper School Community, Inclusion, and Equity (CIE) Council brings together leaders from the various student affinity groups and clubs in our community, including the Asian Student Union, Black Student Union, FOCUS (Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools), Gender and Sexuality Alliance, Jewish Students Association, Muslim Students Association, and the Sikh Students Association.

These groups and clubs host events throughout the year, share at assemblies or classes across grade levels, and raise awareness or lead fundraisers for important causes.

Within Gilman's Middle School a similar CIE Council exists led by students in grades seven and eight. In the Lower School, a CIE Council launched in the 2022-2023 school year, led by students in fourth and fifth grades. 

Aiming to shepherd Lower and Middle School boys through their Gilman journey, the Mentoring Program offers support and fellowship by pairing Upper School students with younger boys in mentor-mentee teams. Throughout the school year, the boys meet with faculty advisors and their parents on several occasions.

Learn More About the Mentoring Program

Several Gilman students each year participate in the regional Baltimore Student Diversity Leadership Conference (BSDLC) and the national NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC), and we empower our boys with the skills and confidence to go beyond participating in serving as facilitators and/or delivering workshop sessions.

Both events are multiracial, multicultural gatherings of upper school student leaders (grades 9–12) that focus on self-reflecting, forming allies, and building community. Led by a diverse team of adult and peer facilitators, participants develop effective cross-cultural communication skills, better understand the nature and development of effective strategies for social justice, practice expression through the arts, and learn networking principles and strategies. Additionally, both events encourage students to apply the leadership principles they develop within their own communities post-conference.

The Gilman students who attend the NAIS SDLC travel with faculty members bound for the NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC), as the two events are held concurrently at the same location.

Gilman's BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) alumni work to ensure that young BIPOC alumni build strong ties to Gilman. They heartily welcome the newest members into their ranks, and that of the Gilman Alumni Association, at a pre-Founders Day reception for graduating seniors and their families.

These meetings, moderated by the Director of CIE, provide a safe environment for parents of color to frankly discuss their experiences. The first meeting in the fall, "Navigating the Waters of Independent Schools," gives parents an orientation to Gilman and the independent school community.

The Senior Parent Affinity Dinner walks parents of seniors through the busy year, defining what will be expected of the boys, including the college admission process, SATs, exams, community service requirements, and explanations of the end-of-year events leading up to graduation.

Gilman School is a community of people from different socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, family structures, religions, and races. In this community, we acknowledge, celebrate, and promote each other's differences while remaining "One Gilman." Parent affinity groups support the very notion of an inclusive community by providing the space for diverse groups to self-identify, unite openly, and engage intelligently.

Learn More About Parent Affinity Groups

Professional Development

In addition to in-school professional development, Gilman regularly sends faculty, staff, and administrators to the following two national programs:

• The NAIS' Diversity Leadership Institute (DLI) is an intensive week-long residential program designed to provide independent school faculty, staff, administrators, and diversity practitioners with broad-based tools to lead and manage change in their communities. Each year, Gilman sends an average of three faculty and staff members to the institute, thus broadening our community's understanding of matters of diversity.
• The NAIS' People of Color Conference (PoCC) brings together independent school teachers and administrators of color and diversity advocates of all backgrounds to examine issues of inclusion, equity and justice, and multicultural education. Conference participants attend 90-minute workshops offered by practitioners and experts in all aspects of diversity, multiculturalism, and equity and justice work. Comprehensive affinity group work helps attendees develop and celebrate their own racial/ethnic identities. Keynote speakers help connect the work of the conference with happenings in the world. Gilman faculty members often participate in the conference as presenters and facilitators.

Recruitment

Each year, Gilman is a participating employer at the annual AIMS Job Fair. Sponsored by the Association of Independent Maryland & DC Schools and usually held in late February, this job fair seeks to promote diversity in employee talent in independent schools.

We encourage prospective teacher candidates of any background and heritage to attend this free event.

From Birmingham and Montgomery to Selma and Memphis, Gilman's Civil Rights Tour brings history to life for Middle and Upper School students and chaperones. The group visits and learns about some of the key landmarks and locations connected to moments from the Civil Rights Movement, such as the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Sixteenth St. Baptist Church, the Legacy Museum, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. In addition, stops at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and Memphis' iconic Beale Street commemorate and celebrate Black Americans' contributions to American culture. Read about the 2023 Civil Rights Tour.

Founded in 2005 by Charles (Chaz) Howard '96 and Kumasi Vines '96, the Gilman Black Alumni Leadership Institute (GBALI) brings together promising high school students from Gilman, The Bryn Mawr School, Roland Park Country School, and Parkville and Western High Schools with adult mentors, who offer information about their careers, higher education choices and other life decisions. Karlo Young '97 and Terrance Whitehead '95 co-direct the Institute.

Students meet at Gilman on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until noon for 10 sessions and explore different professions in workshops presented by volunteer presenters. They also perform community service activities, and each participant is required to deliver a report about the program at its conclusion.

Read the story of GBALI

Learn More About GBALI at gbali.org

In 2014, Gilman opened its own Bridges Baltimore site, which serves 36 public school students in grades 4-6. In addition to hosting a five-week Summer Institute, Gilman provides a year-round after-school program for fourth and fifth grade students from Yorkwood Elementary, Leith Walk Elementary, Govans Elementary, and Cecil Elementary Schools. Sixth graders participate in monthly Weekend Learning Adventures throughout the school year.

Learn More About Bridges at Gilman

Gilman is a founding partner in the Baltimore Community Foundation's Middle Grades Partnership (MGP) initiative. Our public school partner is Southwest Baltimore Charter School.

MGP endeavors to annually equip 600 academically promising Baltimore City public school students with the skills needed to succeed in a rigorous college preparatory high school through programs conceived and taught jointly by independent (including Gilman) and public school teachers and college interns

All MGP students study writing, reading, and mathematics, while some programs also offer music, art, dance, sports, field trips (both in and out of Baltimore), and high school choices of guidance and college readiness instruction.

Learn More About MGP at middlegradespartnership.org