Milton Hershey School Community Honors and Observes Juneteenth
Featuring Fonati Abrokwa, MHS Special Assistant to the President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
At Milton Hershey School, our culture is an ever-changing mosaic made up of the stories and legacy of our more than 2,000 students and 11,000 alumni. Celebrating our community’s differences and diversity is not just an important piece of our values, but is essential to our mission.
As MHS continues to advance our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals and framework, we are excited to observe Juneteenth—also known as Freedom Day—a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. For our community, this holiday acknowledges the perseverance, resilience, and grit that have brought about change and spearheaded cultural achievements of Black and African Americans.
The theme of this school year was Greater Together. The MHS community continues to demonstrate how doing the little things and helping each other makes an impact and unites us. A powerful example of this theme in action has been the advancements in DEI at MHS. Our students have taken the lead, reviving the Cultural Diversity Club and planning activities to get their classmates celebrating cultures and supporting differences.
This also is the first year that two MHS students were named DEI representatives in the Student Government Association in Senior Division. In this role, these leaders advocated for what matters to our students and proudly represented MHS by engaging in impactful conversations with school leadership, while also participating in Hershey community forums. Students in Elementary and Middle Divisions also have participated in activities and read age-appropriate books on topics related to fairness, empowerment, and inclusion.
“Our staff also is embracing our DEI initiatives this year. So far, 91 percent of staff in Education and Student Life have completed learning experiences and are taking what they’ve learned back to their departments and classrooms,” shared Fonati Abrokwa, MHS Special Assistant to the President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”
As we look to the next school year, MHS is excited to unite towards creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus and world for our staff, students, their families, and our Hershey community.