ABSTRACT
The administration’s sense making about diversity at Grace Academy (GA) resulted in the creation of a position that emphasized Christian unity and aimed to preserve the school’s identity as a close-knit Christian community. Beyond obtaining a more diverse faculty and student population, the other facet of GA’s diversity initiative was to create a school climate that celebrated diversity. This goal was interdependent with GA’s recruitment and retention goals. Black student and parent experiences at GA suggest that the faculty and staff could become more intentional and explicit in engaging race, and in so doing, they would come closer to achieving their goal of cultivating a climate that celebrates differences. GA’s decision to hire Mr. Wade as the diversity coordinator after he had already been serving GA as football coach reinforced the stereotype at GA that students of color attended GA for athletics.
