School talks about progress made in diversifying student population.
When Mel Larsen, a former principal and football coach at Pontiac Catholic High School who went on to become a Michigan state legislator, co-sponsored a major civil rights bill in the early 1970s, he was told it would end his political career. His bill would finally pass in 1976 and it not only did not end his political career, the bill, called the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act of Michigan, became the most important anti-discrimination law in Michigan that touched upon fair housing, age discrimination and sex discrimination.
Now 80 years old, Larsen continues to serve others in the state and has said that that sense of service comes from his faith, undoubtedly reinforced during his own education at the University of Notre Dame and the time he spent at Pontiac Catholic. He also said that he now finds great joy in mentoring the next generation of civil rights leaders.
Setting and exceeding big goals
One member of that next generation perhaps is NDPMA’s Kala Parker, the school’s dean of diversity and associate dean of admissions — and a 2000 NDP graduate. She’s an attorney and can likely make a lot more money elsewhere, but instead has devoted her six-plus years on campus to the education of young people — and more importantly, the education of a more diverse school community of young people.
READ ABOUT NDPMA'S PARENT DIVERSITY FORUMS
A big goal for Parker over those years has been increasing NDPMA’s student diversity to at least 20 percent, which to her delight, according to recent numbers, is now at 22 percent.
She said the school has had a three-prong approach to making its community more inclusive: 1) developing student activities highlighting current domestic and global issues to widen their outlooks and to encourage valuing the culture and perspectives of others; 2) utilizing the faculty diversity committee (FDC) as mentors to support faculty in seeking/developing multicultural teaching material and making their classroom discussions and activities more inclusive; and 3) engaging parents in meaningful discussion around creating a diversity action plan to move the school forward.
Notre Dame's upper division also offers a diversity scholarship, available to ninth through 11th graders in their first year at NDP. It is based on a student's response to the diversity statement in his or her application for admission. The scholarship was launched in 2002 based on the recommendation of the student council at that time and it was funded initially by some faculty payroll deductions as well as a perecentage of walkathon/raffle proceeds.
Current Director of Advancement Gregory Simon played a huge role in Notre Dame's efforts toward more student diversity.
‘Largest pool of diversity’
James Pillot, a 2016 graduate of Notre Dame Prep currently enrolled at Stanford University, also commented on the diversity strides made at his alma mater.
“When I first started at NDP and when I graduated in 2016, the diversity at the school still was lower than ideal,” he said. “In my class year, I was the only black male, and in class years above or below me, there were usually less than 10 students of color,” which he said means Latino or black, by his definition.
“However, through the work of Mrs. Parker and Mr. [Corey] Porterfield [also in admissions], I can see NDP taking tremendous steps forward in adding some color to the yearbook,” Pillot said. “Upon my return to visit the school recently, Mrs. Parker and crew appeared to have recruited the largest pool of diversity in this current year's freshman class that I had ever seen during my time at Notre Dame Prep.”
Parker said that during the years following 1998, the population of the school and the number of diverse students actually has ebbed and flowed. She said some years were much better than others.
“But as concerns grew over the decrease in students from underrepresented populations, the faculty diversity council continued to work to support multicultural education in the classrooms,” Parker said. “And this committee successfully procured annual funding to support the enrollment of diverse students and diversity resources.”
James Pillot, shown here as a Notre Dame sophomore, currently is studying at Stanford University.
Statement of diversity
“Also, when the school slowly began to become more diverse, parents and school administrators started to meet to discuss a variety of diversity issues, including ensuring that diverse students and families were well-represented in our marketing materials and re-working the mission statement of the school to include not just socioeconomic diversity, but diversity of all types,” Parker said.
She said that once this change was made, conversations began around the school’s definition of diversity and, as a result, the FDC was tasked with developing a school diversity statement, which is as follows:
“Notre Dame, guided by the spirit and teachings of the Catholic Church and Society of Mary, actively seeks students, families, faculty, staff, and trustees of diverse backgrounds who are committed to the formation of a community of inclusion that respects the dignity of every individual.
Kala Parker, who graduated from NDP in 2000, is Notre Dame's dean of diversity and associate dean of admissions. She has organized a series of Parent Diversity Collaborative Forums, with two already held on the Notre Dame campus.
Early efforts
Dave Osiecki, a social studies teacher in Notre Dame’s upper division and an original member of the FDC, recalls the beginnings of the school’s push toward increased diversity.
“The early days of the diversity committee consisted of a number of educators brainstorming ideas to enhance diversity at NDPMA,” he said. “I'm not sure if any of us had any training or experience on this topic, but a bunch of us wanted to do something. Some of the early efforts surrounded MLK day and Black History Month and there were several years when we had a speaker or a program presented in the gym.”
He admits that some of the ideas in the early days did not work out so well, but he said they were not really diversity professionals — just very interested teachers trying to make a real difference.
“Although teachers here have remained totally focused on this, I personally thought it was fantastic when NDPMA named Gregory Simon [now director of advancement] whose job description included school diversity.” 
Michael Carman, also a social studies teacher at ND Prep, is a current member of the faculty diversity committee. He said that in the last few years, it's become increasingly apparent to the NDPMA community that diversity and inclusiveness are key to fulfilling its mission of creating Christian people, upright citizens, and academic scholars.
“Our mission as a Marist school requires us to ensure that all students are respected for who they are, and that as many students as possible, regardless of their circumstances, have the option of attending NDPMA,” Carman said. “As a community, we are working to ensure that the academically rigorous, supportive and nurturing environment that we provide can exist for all students.”
Parents notice
Ann Stone, who with her husband, David, are current and alumni NDPMA parents, said she has seen real progress.
“When we first enrolled at NDP in 2005, diversity within the community admittedly was lacking,” said Stone, who also is a school trustee. “Throughout the years, we have witnessed an increase in diversity within our student body due in large part to the support and commitment from the administration and the Board of Trustees. Our mission statement was changed to reflect our commitment to a diverse student body, funding for scholarships and financial aid (including Building Bridges) was increased along with more focused efforts on recruitment, and several new initiatives were instituted: faculty/staff training on diversity, the aforementioned faculty diversity committee, and, of course, the multicultural alliance student group. Diversity was also identified as one of three major themes in our latest six-year strategic plan adopted earlier this year.”
David and Ann Stone are current and alumni parents at Notre Dame.
“As NDPMA moves to become more diverse, we will continue to invest in policies to recruit, retain and develop the best mission-centered students,” she said. “Also, we plan to continue to provide professional development and we trust the staff and administration will continue to address racial issues honestly and directly. We also want to continue to provide support as well as a welcome learning environment for diverse students and their families, and engage the entire school community in embracing a community that is rich in a variety of backgrounds, culture, perspectives and experiences.”
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.