I am saddened and incredibly disappointed to share with you that today one of our biology classes experienced two virtual intruders during the middle of class. The teacher was able to remove the intruders, but not before the class was subjected to a verbal attack, including foul language and the use of the n-word. Our deans are investigating, and we have shared this information with the Newton Police Department and the ADL.

Our students say it better than I could: “One would hope that awful racist attacks on those we care for would end as we try and stand together against a pandemic. But people can be awful so here we find ourselves, bewildered, hurt.” I share their hurt.

In the aftermath of our last incident, we developed a NSHS human rights council to help us prevent and respond to incidents of hate, and I will be meeting with this group tomorrow to plan a response. We are also directing faculty to only allow into classrooms students who have authenticated their NSHS identification through the use of their NPS student gmail, a security protection that just came available for our use today.

These hateful attacks are an attempt to thwart the very things that we need more of right now: connection, understanding, grace. I applaud our students and faculty who once again are showing tremendous resilience in these challenging times.

As always, thank you for your partnership.