The Concerned Alumni of Mount Saint Charles Academy have been invited by school’s president, Herve Richer, to discuss possible solutions to the problem of accommodating tans students. They also report that the language regarding the non-admission of trans students has been omitted from the school’s website. Here’s the full release:
“We, the alum who have expressed concerned about the policy regarding transgender students at Mount Saint Charles, have received word from the President, Herve Richer. He has been apologetic about the impact of the policy and appreciative of our efforts as alum to find a positive solution to the accommodation problem. He has invited us to a meeting to discuss possibilities of how to do this, and we are grateful that Mount is moving forward in this direction.
“Mount has always been a home to us, and we are happy to see that they understand our concern and agree the language in the policy needs to be changed and a solution for accommodation implemented. We will be accepting an offer to go to a meeting with the administration to add our help and talent to finding a solution for all parties.
“On Mount’s website, they have posted a new handbook for 2016-17 that omits the policy regarding transgender students. While we do not know if this is the final copy, we are glad to be part of the process of moving in the correct direction on this issue.”
- Former students speak out against Mount St. Charles Academy’s trans-exclusive policy
- From the Great Eight Award to “unable to make accommodations” : A response to Mount St. Charles’ policy on transgender students
- Let Mt St Charles know how you feel about their trans exclusion policy
- Mount Saint Charles Academy responds
- Early morning protest against Mount Saint Charles trans-exclusion policy
YouthPride, a gay rights advocacy group for young Rhode Islanders, “strongly opposes Mount Saint Charles Academy’s policy banning transgender students from the school,” according to a statement sent Saturday night.
YouthPride reached out to the exclusive Catholic school in Woonoskcet “to offer information and professional development on best practices for supporting transgender students,” according to the release sent by Executive Director Kerri Kanelos, after GoLocalProv reported on Friday the school has a policy against accepting transgender students.
The news enraged former students and gay rights advocates all over Rhode Island.
The private school, which receives some public funding, responded to the criticism with a statement that said, in part: “Mount Saint Charles Academy deeply regrets the unintended hurt feelings at and seeming insensitivity of our policy regarding the acceptance of transgendered young people. The policy that currently appears in the Mount Saint Charles Student Handbook is not intended to be discriminatory toward transgendered students nor is Mount Saint Charles Academy’s intent or desire to exclude transgender students. The policy was put in place for the simple reason that Mount Saint Charles feels that its facilities do not presently provide the school with the ability to accommodate transgender students.”
YouthPride, in its statement, said this “is not an acceptable solution to being unprepared to provide a safe and supportive learning environment.”
Said Kanelos, ““I am encouraged by the passionate allies, including hundreds of MSC alumni, who are asking the school to reconsider the policy and work together towards a solution that supports students while respecting the school’s mission. “It is clear that people care deeply about the Mount Saint Charles community and want to ensure that their school is inclusive and supportive.”
Mount Saint Charles said no transgender students have been denied admission to the school based on gender identity.
- Early morning protest against Mount Saint Charles trans-exclusion policy
- Mount Saint Charles Academy responds
- Former students speak out against Mount St. Charles Academy’s trans-exclusive policy
- From the Great Eight Award to “unable to make accommodations” : A response to Mount St. Charles’ policy on transgender students
- Let Mt St Charles know how you feel about their trans exclusion policy
- Mount Saint Charles Academy responds
Perhaps the most poignant sign at the protest outside Mount Saint Charles Academy (MSCA) early Saturday morning read, “41 percent of trans individuals attempt suicide in their lifetimes. Accommodation cannot wait.”
The response from former Academy students and LGBTQ activists to MSCA’s policy of excluding transgender students, because the school does not have the facilities to accommodate them, has been swift and extremely negative. Two former students at the protest told me that when they attended MSCA they always found the staff and management to be open, accepting and willing to dialogue on difficult subjects. The sudden addition of a policy that excludes trans students blindsided them.
No one at the protest felt that the statement MSCA issued yesterday in response to the outcry over the policy was adequate. Trans students don’t need special toilets or facilities said one protester, they need the same facilities as everyone else.
The timing of the protest, on a cold and windy Saturday morning at 7:30am likely kept many interested in attending the protest away, but organizers AJ Metthe and Anthony Maselli scheduled the event to coincide with MSCA’s entrance exam for prospective students. Parents and children considering the school would be made very aware of the exclusionary policy.
Those driving past the protesters mostly kept their thoughts to themselves, but many were positive, with horn honks or thumbs up. One man felt the need to stop his car in the middle of the road and incoherently yell at the protesters about how trans people don’t exist, the ultimate refutation of their humanity, but he was a one off.
Protesters were polite and peaceful throughout the event, and more protests are being considered for the future.
- Former students speak out against Mount St. Charles Academy’s trans-exclusive policy
- From the Great Eight Award to “unable to make accommodations” : A response to Mount St. Charles’ policy on transgender students
- Let Mt St Charles know how you feel about their trans exclusion policy
- Mount Saint Charles Academy responds
Mount Saint Charles Academy released the following statement in regards to its decision to not accommodate transgender students:
“Mount Saint Charles Academy deeply regrets the unintended hurt feelings at and seeming insensitivity of our policy regarding the acceptance of transgendered young people. The policy that currently appears in the Mount Saint Charles Student Handbook is not intended to be discriminatory toward transgendered students nor is Mount Saint Charles Academy’s intent or desire to exclude transgender students. The policy was put in place for the simple reason that Mount Saint Charles feels that its facilities do not presently provide the school with the ability to accommodate transgender students.
“As a Catholic school, Mount Saint Charles recognizes its call to serve all children who desire a Catholic education, but it also recognizes that it is not a comprehensive high school with the ability to serve all students. Some students may not be academically qualified. Others may have learning plans which the school cannot accommodate. And in some cases, our facilities may not be adequate to service some students.
“Although the school has not been approached with any requests to admit transgender students, Mount Saint Charles Academy’s administration has been exploring ways in which it might provide reasonable accommodations for transgender students and fulfill its mission.
“While Mount Saint Charles can respect that some may find our current policy somewhat inconsistent and intolerant, please try to understand the reason for its existence. This is certainly not our intent. Please know that we would very much like to address the issue, and your prayers and kind assistance would go a long way in allowing us achieve that goal.”
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If you’re reading about the policy at Mount Saint Charles Academy that’s banning trans students from attending their school and feeling angry or sad because there’s nothing you can do to combat this bigotry, well, feel better, because I’ve got some ideas.
First, plan to get up real early tomorrow morning and head out to Mount Saint Charles Academy, 800 Logee St, Woonsocket, Rhode Island 02895 by 7:30am for a peaceful protest of the school’s policy. Mount Saint Charles Academy is holding their entrance exam for incoming students at 8:15am, so parents will be dropping off their students for the exam.
Organizers AJ Metthe and Anthony Maselli ask that people bring, “peaceful & positive signs and messaging only… Let’s show them this new policy is one that goes against their own values statement that ‘every student is known, valued, treasured.’ Let’s show them that the Gospel preaches love for ALL, not hate and exclusion.”
The event is expected to run from 7:30 – 8:30am.
The other thing you can do is sign the petition.
David Coletta has started a petition on Change.org asking Mount Saint Charles Academy President Herve Richer to, “leave the hateful rhetoric in the past” and accept Trans students. “Sign this petition to let [Mount Saint Charles Academy] know that all students with a desire to learn and excel should be allowed that opportunity, gender aside.”
As of this writing the petition has nearly 600 signatures, and this story hasn’t gone national yet. It’s poised to.
“As a transgender graduate I am both shocked and deeply disappointed,” said one signer. “I am signing this because as of today, I am ashamed to be a Mount Saint Charles Graduate,” said another.
Finally, you might consider reaching out directly to those who run the school. Here’s a link to their contact page.
RI Future will continue to cover this important story. Meanwhile:
Update: This week alumni of Mount St. Charles became aware of a policy regarding Transgender Students. Over the last 24 hours, more than 600 Mount St. Charles alumni have vocalized their frustration, disappointment, and anger regarding this policy. The passion for justice that is being expressed through social media is grounded in the lessons that were instilled in us while students at the Mount. We love Mount St. Charles and what it meant, and means, to us. We are dedicated to ensuring that future generations – that all people – are able to experiencing this amazing place in the same way that we did. We look forward to conversation with the administration in the days ahead and the opportunity to work with them to make Mount St. Charles the best place that it can be.
The psalmist writes, “I am utterly numb and crushed; I wail, because of the groaning of my heart” (Psalm 38:8).
At 3:30pm today, March 3, 2016, my world was shaken in a deep and profound way. I was sitting in the refrectory at Yale Divinity School scrolling through Facebook passing the time until my afternoon class. A message popped up on my screen. It was from a dear and beloved friend, a classmate from my time at Mount St. Charles Academy. The message contained a link to a Facebook post shared by another Mountie. I knew something bad was afoot. I clicked, read the post, and instantly felt as if I had been punched in the stomach.
The post was a screen shot of the most recent version of the “Mount St. Charles Academy Parent-Student Handbook 2015-2016.” A bold red title appeared prominently reading: “Transgender Students”. Beneath the title were two lines containing 32 words, “Mount Saint Charles Academy is unable to make accommodations for transgender students. Therefore, MSC does not accept transgender students nor is MSC able to continue to enroll students who identify as transgender” (Note: This screen shot was taken from page 40 of the handbook). As I read these words it took every ounce of restraint and control in body not to breakdown in the middle of the dining hall. As I read, reread, and read those words yet again the words of the psalmist instantly came to mind. “I am utterly numb and crushed; I wail because of the groaning of my heart.”
Let me step back and clarify why these 32 words have dealt such a painful blow.
Up until 3:30pm today I was an incredibly proud and unabashed graduate of Mount St. Charles Academy. I have regularly boasted of the amazing education I received in junior high and high school. I have credited that institution, along with my time at Rhode Island College, for being the reason I am thriving as a graduate student at Yale University. I have already started lobbying my wife that we should send our future children to Mount St. Charles when the time comes. I have fervently defended my alma mater and encouraged others to consider sending their children there as well. You see the core of who I am rests largely on the foundation built during my six years as a student at Mount St. Charles.
It was at Mount St. Charles that I first learned that I could succeed as a student. It was at Mount St. Charles that I experienced the love and unending support from faculty and staff who sacrificed much of themselves for the wellbeing of their students. It was at Mount St. Charles that I learned to be a better person. It was Mount St. Charles that taught me how to be a better Christian. Not only did Mount St. Charles teach me to be a better Christian, it taught me how to live more fully into the promises of the Baptismal Covenant found in The Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer. My six years at Mount St. Charles taught me more about living into this covenanted relationship with God than any Sunday School, Confirmation class, or Baptism workshop I have ever attended. Most importantly, it was at Mount St. Charles that my vocation to the priesthood emerged and was allowed to blossom despite the fact that I was not Roman Catholic. It is because of all this and more that two years ago on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I wrote a blog post describing just how proud I was to be a Mountie. Sadly, I can no longer stand by the words, “I am proud to be a Mountie.”
The psalmist writes, “I am utterly numb and crushed; I wail, because of the groaning of my heart.”
Today, when I learned that Mount St. Charles no longer accepts Transgender students the foundation of who I am, the foundation built at Mount St. Charles, shattered.
It shattered because I am a Mountie, and I am Transgender.
Those two lines, those 32 words on page 40 of the Parent-Student Handbook mean that if I were to apply to Mount St. Charles today they would not accept me because of who I am – they would reject me because of my God given identity. If those shattering and painful sentences were the policy when I was a student, if they were included in the 2005-2006 or 2006-2007 Parent-Student Handbook, Mount St. Charles could have refused to continue my enrollment. I refuse to begin to contemplate what I would have done had I been kicked out of Mount St. Charles because my gender identity does not fit into a neat little box – but I can guarantee you it would not have been good.
The psalmist writes, “I am utterly numb and crushed; I wail, because of the groaning of my heart.”
Today I learned that Mount St. Charles has failed me. Today I learned that I am a second class Mountie. Today I also learned the value of a Mount education.
From the moment I saw the original Facebook post, my Facebook newsfeed has been overwhelmed with outraged alumni, I have received Facebook messages and texts letting me know how much I am loved and supported by my former classmates. What is emerging on Social Media are the fruits of the community we built at Mount St. Charles; it is a harnessing of the passion and commitment to justice that was engrained in us at Mount St. Charles. The letter writing, mobilizing, and organizing that began within moments of this news being discovered are the fruits of the education we received at Mount St. Charles. We are embodying the Mount St. Charles mission statement:
Mount Saint Charles Academy, a private, Catholic junior- senior high school in the tradition of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, serves a co-educational community in a college preparatory environment.
We challenge our students through rigorous academic programs and through religious and co-curricular experiences to become people of faith who use their talents and intellects to serve others.
Each and every student is known, valued, treasured, and taught in partnership with the family.
The psalmist writes, “I am utterly numb and crushed; I wail, because of the groaning of my heart.”
When I was in the eighth grade, I received the biggest award for a junior high student. I received the Great Eight Award, an award given to two students in the eighth grade who exemplify what it means to be a Mountie. Since 2003, as a result of this award, my name has been inscribed on your wall of fame. My name stands as a symbol of what it truly means to embody the spirit of the Mount. It is hard, it seemingly impossible, to reconcile the fact that I could go from exemplifying what it means to be a Mountie – something I have endeavored to do since the day I received that award – to being a person my beloved alma mater refuses “to accommodate.”
And so, to the faculty, staff, and administration of Mount St. Charles who approved this policy, to you whom I put complete faith and trust it, to you whom I relied on, to you who cared for me – you have failed me. You have failed not just me, but each and every student who does, who has ever, and who will ever walk through your doors. You have outraged me, you have disappointed me, you have hurt me, but most importantly who have cut down everything you taught me to stand for. I hope you remember that each and every time you walk outside the faculty room, every time you glimpse my name on the Great Eight Award plaque, because those 32 words inscribed in your handbook discredit everything you say you stand for. I am your student: what happened to “each and every student is known, valued, treasured, and taught”?
The psalmist writes, “I am utterly numb and crushed; I wail, because of the groaning of my heart.”
In the days ahead, more will be said, letters will be written, and campaigns will begin. But, today I can only manage these words. I can only muster up the strength to share my deep and profound pain.
Today I write, “I am utterly numb and crushed; I wail, because of the groaning of my heart.”
I sign this message in anticipation of day than I can once again say, “I am proud to be a Mountie.”
[This post originally appeared here – editor]
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